Sonny Jurgensen is 90 and his health is declining, but Jayden Daniels has been giving him plenty to smile about lately.

Jurgensen, a Washington Hall of Fame quarterback who later had a four-decade run as a radio analyst for the team through 2018, is retired in Naples, Fla. But he’s been keeping close tabs on the Commanders star rookie quarterback.

“Tremendous,’’ Jurgensen told The Denver Gazette on what it has been like watching Daniels on television. “It’s great, what has happened with him and what he’s doing.”

Jurgensen played in the NFL from 1957-74, including 1964-74 with the then-named Washington Redskins, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. He was asked about his health.

“Not doing so well,’’ he said. “When you get to be my age, things slow down a little bit.”

But Jurgensen will be looking on Sunday when Daniels and the sixth-seeded Commanders play at No. 2 Philadelphia in the NFC championship game. It will be Washington’s first appearance in the game since the 1991 season.

“That’s unreal,’’ Jurgensen said. “Unbelievable that they’ve accomplished that.”

Jurgensen gives plenty of credit to Daniels, the No. 2 pick in last April’s draft after winning the 2023 Heisman Trophy at LSU. He completed 69% of his passes for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdown passes and just nine interceptions during the regular season. He has been even better in the playoffs.

With the Commanders having recorded road playoff upsets of 23-20 at third-seeded Tampa Bay and 45-31 at No. 1 Detroit, Daniels has completed 69.7% percent of his throws for 567 yards with four touchdowns and no turnovers.

“(I’m) thrilled,’’ Jurgensen said. “His game is complete.”

Jurgensen is hardly the only former Washington star quarterback enamored with Daniels’ play. Joe Theismann, who played for Washington from 1974-85 and led the team to its first of three Super Bowls wins in the 1982 season, has been watching the playoffs from his homes in Virginia and Tennessee.

Theismann is the Commanders’ preseason television analyst and also attended a number of Daniels’ games during the regular season.

“I absolutely love the way he plays the game of football and he’s a terrific young man,’’ Theismann said. “He has what I call football intelligence and football aptitude. He understands the game. He knows how to protect himself and he’s one of the best deep throwers in the league without question.

“The hardest thing sometimes with a young man, especially with his athletic ability, is the tendency to want to take off. But he has great patience in the pocket. He has a nice, quick release, he’s accurate, and he still rushed for (891) yards. If you were to make a list of the top 10 things I like to have in a quarterback, he checks every box.”

Theismann loves how the play of Daniels and the Commanders has inspired those in the nation’s capital.

“I’m thrilled for this football team,’’ Theismann said. “I’m thrilled for the city and for the fans of Washington. It’s been so long. There’s an entire generation that’s never seen anything like this, almost two generations. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this position.”

Theismann led Washington to a 27-17 win over Miami in Super Bowl XVII. Five years later in the 1987 season, Doug Williams was the quarterback when Washington defeated the Broncos 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII and won MVP. Williams is now a senior advisor for the Commanders.

Four years after Williams became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, Mark Rypien was behind center and was named MVP as Washington defeated Buffalo 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI. That 1991 season marked the team’s last NFC championship game appearance until now.

“I can’t believe it’s been so long. It’s kind of been the nature of futility of the organization for a number of years, but we’re in good hands now,’’ said Rypien, referring to new owner Josh Harris having hired Adam Peters as general manager and Dan Quinn as head coach for 2024. “You’ve seen them build a culture. It’s been fun to watch.”

Rypien attended three Commanders regular-season games and met Daniels. He watched their two playoff wins on television at his home in Spokane, Wash.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of him,’’ said Rypien, who played for Washington from 1986-93. “He’s a great kid. (Offensive coordinator) Kliff Kingsbury is using all his skill sets. He’s done everything they’ve asked him to do and done it even better than anyone thought.

“I know the people in that organization believed in him but nobody would have thought this would be something this kid could have done in his first year in the league. It’s just been amazing. He’s got it all.”

Rypien plans to attend Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Feb. 9 if the Commanders make it and Theismann said he will be at the game regardless. As for Jurgensen, he plans to watch that game at home.

In the meantime, the only NFL championship won by Jurgensen interestingly came when he played for Philadelphia from 1957-63 and when the backup quarterback saw action as the holder in the Eagles’ 17-13 win over Green Bay in the 1960 title game. With that in mind, does Jurgensen have any affinity for Philadelphia entering Sunday’s game?

“Uh-uh,’’ he said.

Theismann on Nix

After the Broncos selected quarterback Bo Nix with the No. 12 pick in the draft last April, Theismann lauded the selection. He was the last of six quarterbacks taken in the first round.

“I found him to be the most intriguing of the bunch, all six of the quarterbacks I looked at,” Theismann told The Denver Gazette shortly after Nix was picked. “He has all the ability in the world to be the guy. I really like his skill set and he has the ability to throw the ball down the field very well.”

Theismann pegged Nix quite well. Daniels was the only rookie quarterback to have a better season than Nix. No. 1 pick Caleb Williams started well before having some some struggles with Chicago. No. 3 Drake Maye didn’t immediately start but had some solid moments with New England. No. 8 Michael Penix started the final three games and showed promise for Atlanta. No. 10 J.J. McCarthy missed all of Minnesota’s season due to a knee injury.

“He did a terrific job,’’ Theismann said of Nix. “He’s got the innate ability to make plays like Jayden and he throws the ball exceptionally well. Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels were very fortunate to have Sean Payton (as head coach) in Denver and Kliff Kingsbury in Washington to be their coordinators and they benefitted greatly from the the coaching they received.”

Theismann said Nix’s experience of having started all 61 games he played in college at Auburn and Oregon benefitted him greatly. He said Payton has provided him with a good plan.

“The thing you notice about a Sean Payton offense is it’s quick decisions by the quarterback, get the ball out of your hands and make a decision and go with it,’’ Theismann said. “That’s the thing I notice with Bo.”

What I’m hearing

—Rod Graves, executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, is pleased to see many of the strides the NFL has made in diversity hiring. In 2024, there were a record nine NFL head coaches who identified as minorities. Jerod Mayo of New England, Antonio Pierce of Las Vegas and Robert Saleh of the New York Jets ended up being fired, although the Jets just hired Aaron Glenn, who is Black. Graves, though, sees areas that need improvement.

“We’re still focused on getting an increase in opportunities for coordinators, particularly offensive coordinators, and that leads to head coaches,’’ said Graves, whose organization works with the NFL on diversity hiring. “I’m not necessarily excited with where we are in a couple of positions like offensive line. There are very few offensive line coaches that are minorities in the NFL.”

—Plenty of pundits before the season didn’t expect the Broncos to do much in 2024. But they made the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and at 10-7 had their first winning record since 2016.

“People who tend to be experts on TV aren’t actually experts,’’ said tight end Adam Trautman. “There are teams that prove that every year they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Trautman said the Broncos “definitely defied the odds” but he wished they would “have finished better,’’ falling 31-7 at Buffalo to open the playoffs.

What I’m seeing

—If the playoff loss to Buffalo was the last game running back Javonte Williams ends up playing for Denver, it sure was a tough way to go out. Not only were the Broncos walloped, Williams ran for just 15 yards on six carries and he was fined $45,020 for unnecessary roughness for the use of his helmet. Williams during the regular season made an average of $103,831 per game played, so that that was one hefty fine. Williams’ helmet-to-helmet hit on Taron Johnson in the first quarter led to the Bills cornerback being down on the field and needing medical attention but he was able to return to the game.

—It says something about the culture of the organization that the Broncos were able to sign 14 of the 17 players who finished the season on the practice squad to futures contracts even though many are long shots to make their 53-man roster. The only three who didn’t sign were wide receiver David Sills, tackle Cam Fleming and tight end Donald Parham. Sills signed a futures deal with Atlanta. Fleming, an 11-year veteran, is not a good fit for a futures contract. Parham is likely looking for a better situation after he started 23 of the 47 games he played for the Los Angeles Chargers from 2020-23 before joining Denver’s practice squad in 2024 and not being elevated for any games.