Jaxson Dart, the Ole Miss quarterback the Giants took with the No. 25 overall pick in the draft, received a special welcome to New York from another Ole Miss alum on Friday. 

Giants icon Eli Manning recorded a message for his fellow Rebel alum, welcoming him into the Big Blue family.

“Jaxson, congratulations on being drafted by the New York Giants,” Manning said. “Obviously there’s a strong connection between Ole Miss quarterbacks and the Giants going back to Charlie Conerly, and I’m excited 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.”

Jaxson called the message “special to me” in the clip shared on social media and the new Giants quarterback said that Manning had been a role model for him “for a while.” 

During his introductory press conference, Dart expanded on his relationship with Manning at Ole Miss and now with the Giants. 

“He was actually one of the first people to reach out to me yesterday when the news broke, and I think I’ve had such a great connection with him and the Manning family that being able to have them in my corner has been a huge ᴀsset, and I couldn’t be more blessed to have them in my corner coming here and continuing that in the future,” Dart said. 

Asked if Manning had given him specific intel about the Giants, Dart said that they were going to talk more in-depth at a later time. 

“These last few hours have been kind of crazy,” he said. 

Manning played four seasons at Ole Miss from 2000-2003 before he made it to the NFL, where he spent his entire career with the Giants and led the organization to Super Bowl тιтles in 2008 and 2012. 

Dart spent three seasons playing QB for the Rebels, where he developed a good relationship with Manning and his father, Archie.