If Jaxson Dart is going to win over the big, bad New York media, the New York Giants’ first-round pick might want to take lessons from Eli Manning, not Aaron Rodgers.
That’s not a knock on Rodgers’ time with the local beat. The 41-year-old ayahuasca enthusiast actually praised his experience with the New York press, calling it “great” during his short-lived Jets tenure.
As for the national media, well, not so much.
Still, if Dart is going to be the long-term answer at quarterback for the Giants, he’ll need to handle reporters with more poise than Rodgers — and certainly more than Zach Wilson, for that matter. We mention the embattled BYU product because WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti already compared Dart to the Miami Dolphins backup QB while erupting over the Giants, selecting a “pudgy Utah clapper.”
The only round of applause Dart deserves is for how he handled the meeting with local reporters.
Meeting with the Giants beat for the first time, the No. 25 pick in last month’s NFL Draft was praised for the “different vibe” he brought — a stark contrast from the calculated stoicness of Daniel Jones over the past six or so years.
Dart began Friday’s presser by asking each reporter to introduce themselves before firing off questions, borrowing a thoughtful move from Tennessee Titans wide receiver Tyler Lockett. Well, Lockett shook everyone’s hand, but this was in the same vein.
“Never had a player do that in my entire career,” The Athletic’s Dan Duggan wrote on X.
Duggan, a senior NFL writer covering the Giants for the New York Times-owned outlet, highlighted several lighthearted moments from Dart’s introductory press conference. Dart mentioned he had only seen Hard Knocks clips on TikTok, not the full show. Then again, maybe it’s best not to bring up Hard Knocks around Giants fans right now. He also explained that the heart-shaped necklace he’s been wearing actually belongs to his little sister.
If Dart can keep showing that kind of self-awareness and charm, he might just survive the New York spotlight and perhaps even thrive in it.