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New York Giants' Jaxson Dart says Brian Burns opened his eyes to NFL speed
New York Giants' Jaxson Dart says Brian Burns opened his eyes to NFL speed
New York Giants first-round pick Jaxson Dart is wasting no time in making his presence known to the local media and the fans.
On Friday night, Dart and his fellow Giants rookies took in the Yankees-Boston Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium. He was invited on the air by the Yankees' broadcast team of Michael Kay, David Cone, and Paul O'Neill.
Dart explained how he came to be a Yankees fan and even showed a picture of himself as a young boy attending a game in the Bronx in 2008.
Dart said he had played baseball as a kid and was on a travel team. He believes he could have been a major league player had he not devoted himself to football. Kay asked him if his No. 2 jersey in college had anything to do with another famous No. 2, Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop, Derek Jeter.
"There's some ties to that. Are some ties to that. It's kind of crazy. But yeah, that was my, you know, my favorite athlete growing up," he said.
Dart went on to say that the notion of playing in New York did not intimidate him but he did notice that the NFL players are a lot quicker than he has been used to.
"Oh, yeah, I had my first, you know, I don't think I've had, like, my full experience of kind of seeing that, but I've had a little experience with Brian Burns chasing me," he said. "He had a read option play and just, you know, his ability to come to come back and chase me down was kind of crazy."
Dart, the 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft out of Ole Miss, is heading into Giants camp the No. 3 quarterback behind Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston but could end up under center in a game at some point this season.
"I think that when you come into a situation like this, first of all, I'm in a super special position to be able to learn from guys like Russ (Wilson), Jameis (Winston), and Tommy (DeVito), guys who have competed at the highest level," Dart said.
"Russ winning the Super Bowl, and, you know, to kind of pick their brains each and every day has been awesome for me, especially for how young I am. But I think that my focus right now is to try to develop each and every day and do whatever I can to make the team better, and I just want to win. I can't stand losing, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes, to not let that happen. So whatever my role is, I'm gonna play the best way that I can."
