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As a fellow Ole Miss alum and New York Giants first-round draft pick, Eli Manning felt obliged to offer rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart a bit of help at the onset of the NFL season.
After all, Manning once toiled behind Super Bowl-winner Kurt Warner on the Giants' depth chart just as Dart is doing now with another champion in starter Russell Wilson.
For his part, Dart didn't hesitate to take Manning up on his offer, the retired quarterback revealed to podcaster and ESPN host Peter Schrager.
'He says: 'Can you get me a reservation at 4 Charles [Prime Rib] tonight at 6:30?' the 44-year-old Manning said of his interaction with the 22-year-old Dart.
Naturally Manning had been expecting a football-related question or perhaps some advice on the housing market or the best ways to navigate northern New Jersey's notoriously brutal traffic.
Instead, Dart wanted the two-time Super Bowl winner to get him a table at one of Manhattan's most exclusive steakhouses – something Manning shut down immediately.
Former Ole Miss quarterbacks (from left) Eli Manning, Arch Manning and Jaxson Dart
Manhattan steakhouse 4 Charles Prime Rib is notoriously hard to book for eager foodies
'I was like, 'No, no, no. That's not part of the deal,' Manning said. 'When I said I'm happy to help out, I'm not doing that. I'm not your reservations guy. You have to earn the right to call and get your reservation.'
Reservations at the steakhouse became so coveted that 4 Charles Prime Rib was forced to explicitly ban the selling or redistributing of reservations through apps like Resy.
One private restaurant reservation re-seller told Daily Mail in 2024 that his clientele included everyone from NBA stars and actors to the Wall Street crowd, all of whom paid between $500 and $1,000 per reservation.
It's unclear if Dart ever did get a table at the West Village eatery, but things appear to be fine between him and Manning.
Back in June, the retired quarterback posted a picture of himself on Instagram alongside his father and Dart, captioning the post 'Hot Toddy!' – a reference to the trio's alma mater, Ole Miss.
Jaxson Dart has a word with Giants starting quarterback Russell Wilson on the sideline
Dart's chances of overtaking Wilson on coach Brian Daboll's depth chart aren't favorable at the moment. Although New York is 0-2 entering Sunday's game with visiting Kansas City, Wilson played well in last week's overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys, completing 30 of 41 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns.
Manning had a similar situation back in 2004 after arriving in Northern New Jersey in a draft-day trade with the San Diego Chargers for fellow rookie quarterback Philip Rivers as well as future first- and third-round selections.
Given Manning's lineage, coming after NFL greats like father Archie and brother Peyton, fans were understandably impatient to see their new rookie quarterback. Then-head coach Tom Coughlin obliged over the objections of veterans Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan – and that proved to be a mistake.
What had been a borderline playoff team went just 1-6 over the next seven weeks as Manning completed less than half his passes and tossed nine picks while looking nothing like the quarterback who'd go on to win a pair of Super Bowls with New York.
Fortunately for New York, that's not the situation facing Wilson, Dart, or Daboll, who doesn't seem like he's in any rush to start the rookie given his more experienced options.
'Yeah, I have confidence in Russ and we're doing everything we can do each week to develop Jaxson,' Daboll said earlier this month. 'He spends a lot of time in the building. He spends a lot of time after practice going through things that he needs to go through to prepare himself if he gets called upon to be ready to go. And that's what we're going to do.'
