Daniels went down on the final play of the second quarter, his mother Regina Jackson came out to be with him, and somehow Tom Rinaldi turned the whole scene into a family-tree disaster on live TV. Whether he was distracted, misspoke, or simply had a brutal brain fade, Rinaldi managed to call Daniels’ own mother his “wife,” effectively marrying the quarterback to his mom in front of a national audience.
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“Brought to you by Verizon with Tom Rinaldi. No other way to say it: simply a devastating way for that half to end for the Commanders. Jayden Daniels carted off the field, covering his head with a towel, clearly emotional. Made his way to X-ray, where he still is here at AT&T Stadium. You see his wife, Regina Jackson, and his mother, Regina Jackson, came out at him,” Rinaldi said live on air.
With three seconds left in the first half and Washington sitting at the Cowboys’ 1-yard line, Daniels took the snap looking to finish the drive with a touchdown. But almost immediately, left guard Chris Paul stepped on his foot as Daniels moved away from center, sending the quarterback stumbling backward. Daniels instinctively threw out his left arm to brace the fall, only for the elbow to buckle awkwardly underneath his weight. He still managed to get the ball away before collapsing in obvious pain, but the damage was already done.
Daniels had dislocated his left elbow, the same elbow that gave him trouble against the Seattle Seahawks last season. Trainers quickly stabilized the arm in an air cast before Daniels was carted off with a towel over his head and taken for X-rays. Washington ruled him out before the second half, with Marcus Mariota taking over at quarterback. Initial X-rays showed no fracture, though Daniels was set to undergo further testing.
And Rinaldi never corrected himself.
The broadcast simply moved on, leaving viewers to figure out that Regina Jackson was Daniels’ mother all along, not some mystery wife who happened to share her exact name. The internet needed about two seconds to catch the mistake, and once it did, the reactions went from confused to absolutely ruthless.
One fan didn’t buy that it was an innocent mistake at all.
“Tom Rinaldi just called Jayden Daniels’ mom his wife 😭😭😭 He knew w** he was doing.”
Another commenter took the slip and ran even further with it, turning it into a full theory about Rinaldi’s off-camera habits.
“That means he normally has been calling her his wife, that’s why it slipped off so easily… This is embarrassing 🥴”
A viewer summed up the entire moment about as simply as possible, clearly just trying to process what they’d heard.
“I think Tom Rinaldi just called Jayden Daniels’ mom his wife.”
Once the broadcast moved past Rinaldi’s slip, the attention shifted back to Daniels and what Washington had just lost.
At halftime, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn addressed the team’s response, making it clear that with their starting quarterback ruled out, the rest of the game had become about rallying around him.
“I told the guys there’s no way to take that vision away. The best thing we can do is acknowledge it. We love him, we respect him, and the best way to honor him is with our effort to do everything we can to win this game for Jayden Daniels in everything that we do to execute.”
Before leaving, Daniels had been one of Washington’s better performers. The 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year finished 11-of-17 passing for 96 yards and a touchdown, then added 69 yards on seven carries on the ground. His mobility had been a major part of Washington’s offense, and he was helping keep the Commanders within striking distance before the injury ended his night.
Regina Jackson has become a familiar presence around her son’s NFL career, often defending Jayden Daniels publicly. She has also pushed back at comparisons between Daniels and former Commanders quarterback Robert Griffin III while supporting him through injuries, including his knee and hamstring setbacks.
She became a certified NFLPA agent in 2024 and has been closely involved in her son’s career, including his transition into the NFL. Daniels has previously described his mother as his “rock.”
Sunday brought another brutal setback for Daniels, with the same left elbow that caused him problems last season giving way again. But while Washington is left worrying about how long its quarterback could be sidelined, Rinaldi created a completely different conversation with one spectacular verbal slip. Daniels left AT&T Stadium with a dislocated elbow, and somehow FOX also had viewers wondering when he got married to his own mother. The internet was never going to let that one slide.