Alan Llavore | Office of Marketing and Communications | (909) 537-5007 | allavore@csusb.edu
For a few hours on Saturday morning the area around Coussoulis Arena became Washington Commanders Nation.
The attraction for the burgundy and gold-wearing football fans was the team’s star quarterback, Jayden Daniels, whose Jayden Daniels Foundation hosted its second annual Community Day at Cal State San Bernardino on July 18. An estimated 2,000 people attended, with 500 backpacks filled with school supplies and other items given to San Bernardino-area students.
Daniels, a graduate of Cajon High School across the street from CSUSB, organized the event to give back to the community he grew up in. The more direct Coyote connection is Daniel’s mom, Regina Jackson, who holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from CSUSB’s Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration.
In an interview with KTLA, Daniels described the inaugural Community Day in 2025 that took place at Cajon High as “kind of trial and error. … But this year, everybody in the area can come out and support, give back and have fun.”
To understand why Daniels attracted such a large following, in addition to being a record-setting quarterback at Cajon High, he also won the 2023 Heisman Trophy, given to college football’s top player, after setting more records at Louisiana State University. A year later, after being drafted in the first-round by the Washington Commanders, he went on to set a handful of rookie records, led the team to the playoffs and was named the National Football League’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. And, more recently, he is one of the four players featured in season three of the Netflix sports documentary series, “Quarterback.”
So on a bright and sunny summer morning, fans began lining up before 8 a.m. just outside the Physical Education Building and next to the Founders Fountain, where students were given white wristbands for the backpack giveaway. Others, who planned to play sports this fall, were offered free physicals.
The event also included information tables by corporate sponsors and community organizations, which attendees passed by on their way into Coussoulis Arena, as well as food trucks.
After 10 a.m., as the line of students made their way down the stands inside Coussoulis Arena to the tables on the arena floor for the giveaway, Jackson began to lead cheers of “JD 5! JD 5! JD 5!” – the five being his jersey number.
Not long after, Daniels made his appearance as the arena erupted with cheers, spoke a few words of thanks, then proceeded to giveaway portable speakers and tablets through an opportunity drawing, as well as a few contests, including who was the first in line Saturday morning and who traveled the furthest to the event (it was a family that came all the way from Washington, D.C.).
The foundation also publicly acknowledged the help of Roderick Figgs, director of the California Student Opportunity and Access Program at CSUSB, with a framed autographed Jayden Daniels Washington Commanders jersey. Figgs, who is friends with Jackson, helped organize the event as the university’s liaison to the Jayden Daniels Foundation.
