Daniels was born in
Manhattan, New York, on February 12, 1989. Less than a year later his family moved to Fort Hood, Texas. Daniels' father was a
lieutenant colonel in the
U.S. Army and was deployed several times to
Iraq following the
9/11 attacks and the
U.S. invasion of Iraq. He attended
Shoemaker High School in
Killeen, Texas where he played football. On December 12, 2006, Daniels committed to play
NCAA Division I football at
Colorado State University. He signed a letter of intent on February 7, 2007. Daniels was a defensive lineman at
Colorado State, where off the field he majored in
political science, later switching to journalism. He was a
redshirt freshman for the 2007-08 season. On August 20, 2009, Daniels was taken to the hospital following heat-related health issues during a team practice. In 2010, just before his junior season, Daniels injured his shoulder. He continued as a part of the team but stopped playing due to his shoulder injury. He began to focus more on his journalism career. At the 2011 NCAA Convention in
San Antonio, Texas, Daniels successfully ran for vice-chair of the Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. ==Career==