The back page on Sept. 24, 2019, featured one word in much larger font than any other: HOPE. There was Daniel Jones’ countenance, awash in stylized coloring and shading, reminiscent of the iconic 2008 Barack Obama campaign poster that featured that very same word under Obama’s face, with that same stylized coloring and shading.
This was the back cover of the New York Post, two days after Jones made his first NFL start one to remember. He threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores in a thrilling 32-31 comeback victory in Tampa. He looked like a bigger, stronger and certainly faster version of Eli Manning, the franchise icon he replaced in Week 3 that season.
Any and every Giants fan, even those age-deniers who wanted Manning behind center in perpetuity, had to be enthralled with the (momentary) rejuvenation Jones injected into the organization. Indeed, there was a sense of hope, even as it was difficult to swat away a nagging sense that taking Jones with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft was a reach of alarming proportions.
“In three years, we’ll find out how crazy I am,” Dave Gettleman, the Giants general manager at the time, said of the selection of Jones.