Giants Legend Phil Simms Has Four Words of Advice for Jaxson Dart

Retired New York Giants legendary quarterback Phil Simms has followed with interest the careers of those quarterbacks the team has tabbed to follow in his footsteps since his retirement after the 1994 season.

And Simms, who prior to the arrival of Eli Manning held just about every franchise passing record, has been particularly interested in the development of current Jaxson Dart, both on and off the field.

Simms, appearing on the Up & Adams podcast with Kay Adams, recently offered some sage words of advice to the second-year signal caller, who has been in the news a lot this offseason for reasons other than football, most recently for hopping on a private jet right after the team’s Wednesday OTA practice along with a few teammates so they could go support to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“Listen, it's the offseason. There are still OTAs, but I would not want him to go,” Simms told Adams in response to a question about whether he was on board with the quarterback’s decision.

“Just calm it down,” he added. “If you are out there too much, when anything goes wrong, that's what they're gonna jump on,” Simms said.

“Not that it was too much him going down there, but man, we're in that spot in the off-season. "Just play football. You're gonna have plenty of time when this is over to do whatever you want.”

Jun 3, 2026; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) participates in drills during organized team activities at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Dart has certainly been making the rounds off the field, taking advantage of various opportunities and doors that have been opened to him thanks to his position on the New York Giants.

But at the same time, he is not believed to have missed any workouts with the team as he gets ready for his second NFL season and his first under new head coach John Harbaugh.

During Simms’ era, social media wasn’t a thing, and players’ off-field activities weren't widely reported.

But Simms, who spent most of his career playing for Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells, who, like Harbaugh, has an old-school mentality, said that had he done the same thing as Dart, he would have heard about it from Parcells.

“If I'd have gone down there in a private plane, watched the Knicks play, oh my gosh, I would've been brought to the principal's office the next day,” Simms said. “And then the question would be, ‘What the hell are you doing?’”

That said, Simms is aware that times have changed from when he played.

“These guys have so much money, and we react to it differently. And Jaxson Dart's one of those guys–he's not afraid to be out there.”

Despite his disagreement with Dart taking advantage of seemingly every opportunity that has come his way, Simms is still very high on what the young signal caller could become.

“I studied him big time. Every day that went on, I went, ‘Oh wow, I underestimated his talent.’ Jaxson Dart–he could be a superstar; there's no doubt about it. He has superstar qualities and talent, so we'll see if they can put it together.”

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