It's no secret that Jayden Daniels has taken the NFL by storm. The 2024 No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft wasted little time showing off his dual-threat abilities in his first year with the Washington Commanders.
Daniels went on to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2024, adding to his trophy case which includes a Heisman Trophy.
However, there are some things unknown about the young quarterback. The league encourages players to represent their heritage on their helmets by adding country decals. As a rookie, Daniels wore an American flag sticker on his helmet but in Week 1 of the 2025 season, he took the field with both an American and a Japanese flag on his helmet. This surprised viewers because it wasn't common knowledge that he had Japanese ties.
Here is more on why Daniels has the Japanese flag on his helmet.
MORE: Everything to know about Jayden Daniels' family tree
Why does Jayden Daniels have the Japanese flag on his helmet?
The NFL started allowing players to celebrate their heritage in select weeks during the 2022 season. This continued in 2023, with certain weeks labeled as weeks when they can do that. In 2024, the league changed the rule and allowed players to represent their heritages on their helmets throughout the year.
With the stance changing in 2024, Daniels just donned the American flag on his helmet. When the 2025 season started, he surprised fans with a Japanese flag along with the American flag. Daniels' parents are Javon Daniels and Regina Jackson. Neither of them was known to be born in Japan, as they met in high school in San Bernardino, California and were said to be locals to the area. It turns out that Daniels's maternal grandmother is Japanese, giving him a connection to the country that he wanted to celebrate on his helmet.
MORE: Explaining the NFL's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty
Is Jayden Daniels Japanese?
Daniels has Japanese ancestry. His grandmother on his mother's side is from Japan. Colloquially, when someone's grandmother is from another country, the grandchild is said to be a quarter of whatever ethnicity. So in Daniels' case, he could be up to 1/4 Japanese in his DNA, though the exact percentage in his DNA make-up, is unknown.
MORE: What is a catch in the NFL?
Is Jayden Daniels a Japanese citizen?
Daniels' parents, as far as we know, were not born in Japan, and his tie to the nation is through his maternal grandmother. Daniels is not a Japanese citizen to our knowledge. The way the country's policies are set up, those with dual citizenship between Japan and another nation, must make their choice by the time they are 22.
Daniels is 24 years old. It feels like he was a Japanese citizen, it would have come out sooner than his adding a sticker to his helmet in the NFL.
MORE: The 10 most shocking NFL Draft slides of all time