It’s time for Ole Miss football’s biggest fan, Eli Manning, to do some honors. The football program’s current starter, quarterback Jaxson Dart, has been lucky enough to land some praise from the legend. Now that Dart has “broken” all of Manning’s records, the legend wishes something even bigger for Dart.

While Manning intended to express his deep affection for Ole Miss as his father’s roots lie there, Eli did not forget to take a jab at his brother, Peyton, who, in turn, left the audience along with Dart in stitches.

Eli passes a mocking remark for brother Peyton

May 6, Monday night, featured a successful event as Ole Miss’ Grove Collective enjoyed at the Manning Center. The program that featured the “Evening with Eli Manning and Jaxson Dart” was a sellout. What stood out from the session was Eli, who was considered the football royalty and the best quarterback that Ole Miss could ever have, and his belief in all things good about the program. While appreciating the attractions of Lane Kiffin’s program, he did leave a mocking remark for his brother, who could not be lucky enough to be a part of Ole Miss. “I am a fan of Ole Miss. I have been a fan since I was little. My dad obviously played here, so I grew up a fan… Peyton couldn’t get into Ole Miss. Had to go to Tennessee,” Eli stated. 

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Hence, Eli light-heartedly flaunts his dad’s and Ole Miss’s legacy and how he followed his footsteps, being lucky enough to find a position in the squad that his brother could not. Amidst pulling his brother’s leg, Eli acknowledged Dart’s talents, which is enough to compare the quarterback with himself. 

Eli finds confidence in Dart

Manning and Coach Kiffin always had an endearing bond. The coach favored Eli so much so that on the days of his jersey number retirement at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Kiffin reached the stadium through The Walk of Champions in a royal blue Manning New York Giants jersey. On Monday night, the traces of the bond could still be felt as the legend shared, “It’s been great watching Coach Kiffin and Coach Weis and the crew in what they’re doing.”

Eli then turned his focus to Dart, “And Jaxson. I’m rooting for them. I want (Dart) to break – he’s probably broken all my records – I want him to break all of them. I want him to go have a big year and go get that SEC Championship.” Per the sources, Dart needs 3,782 passing yards in 2024 to surpass Manning’s program record of 10,119 career passing yards. If the quarterback reaches that mark, he will also break the legend’s personal record for passing 3,600 yards in a season. 

Dart has been part of the Ole Miss program since 2021 and has worked his way up to becoming the backbone of the Lane Kiffin system. While he narrowly missed out on the SEC championship game spot last season, it is now to be seen whether his meetup with THE ELI MANNING is his lucky charm this time.