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Jaxson Dart Receives Special Message From Eli Manning After Giants Draft Him

Like Eli Manning, Jaxson Dart goes from Ole Miss to the Giants.

Eva Geitheim

New York Giants first round draft pick, Jaxson Dart, takes questions from the media during his introduction press conference.
New York Giants first round draft pick, Jaxson Dart, takes questions from the media during his introduction press conference. / Thomas Salus-Imagn Images
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The New York Giants traded back into the first round of the 2025 NFL draft to select quarterback Jaxson Dart on Thursday. With Dart getting picked by New York, he follows in the footsteps of franchise great Eli Manning, who also played quarterback at Ole Miss before becoming the Giants signal-caller.

After Dart was drafted, Manning sent a congratulatory message to the new Giants rookie quarterback.

"Congratulations on being drafted by the New York Giants," Manning said in a video to Dart. "Obviously there's a strong connection from Ole Miss quarterbacks and the Giants, going back to Charlie Conerly, and I'm excited that that tradition will continue with you. I'm not going to sit here and tell you what a great organization the Giants are, it will not take you long to figure that out by yourself. It's been an honor and a lot of fun rooting for you these past three years at Ole Miss, and I look forward to rooting for you for the Giants for the next 15 years."

Dart had already established a relationship with Manning at Ole Miss, and that relationship should continue to develop with Dart becoming a Giant.

"That's special to me," Dart said in response to the video. "Eli's been a huge role model of mine for a while, even before I got to Ole Miss. Just the relationship that I was able to make with him was truly unique during my time at Ole Miss. I couldn't be more grateful to have him in my corner and follow in his footsteps, as well as Charlie's. What a great opportunity this is, and I couldn't be more excited for this."

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Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.

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