Jaxson Dart Breaks Silence: The Surprising Reason He Keeps Marissa Ayers Romance 'Between Us'

Jaxson Dart spent the build-up to Thursday's NFL Honors ceremony doing his best to talk about anything other than the woman next to him on the red carpet.

The 22-year-old New York Giants quarterback was in San Francisco with Marissa Ayers, who turned up in a champagne-coloured gown that was all over social media before the first award had been handed out.

He'd already fielded questions about her in an interview with People and gave every indication he was done sharing.

'I think that just in the world that we live in, we try to keep as much as we can, you know, between us,' he told the magazine on Wednesday. 'I think that when you're in this space, you wanna make sure that it means something.'

Keeping things quiet is a tough ask when your girlfriend has upwards of 2 million social media followers, brand deals with SKIMS, L'Oréal, and Revolve, and ring card duties for Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions. Ayers, 22, grew up in Atlanta, graduated from the University of Alabama with a communications degree and has been building her profile for years. Her visibility is her career, not a by-product of who she's dating, as Sports Illustrated noted.

Why Jaxson Dart And Marissa Ayers Kept Things Quiet

The pair were first spotted at a Halloween party in October. Ayers later confirmed on TikTok that their first date was that same month - dinner, then The Great Gatsby on Broadway. They made it official during a trip to Park City, Utah, in late November, according to Heavy Sports, and spent Christmas together before Ayers finally posted a PDA-filled photo dump on 9 January with the caption 'rumor has it...'

Since going public, they've given fans just enough to stay interested without handing over the whole relationship. There's been a fishing trip to Cabo, a dinner at 4 Charles Prime Rib in Greenwich Village, and a TikTok mukbang at JCW Burgers in Dart's hometown of Kaysville, Utah. But nothing suggests either is comfortable with the kind of constant couples content that dominates athlete Instagram. Once you invite the internet into a relationship, it doesn't tend to leave politely.

A Rookie Season That Earned The Spotlight

Thursday's red carpet was Dart's biggest public moment with Ayers so far, and he probably would have preferred the attention to land elsewhere. He was nominated for the PEPSI Offensive Rookie of the Year, losing to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. His parents, Brandon and Kara, were also in attendance. Dart spoke warmly about his mother's influence during a bruising debut season. 'She has my back no matter what,' he said.

The nomination was deserved. Dart wasn't named the Giants' starter until Week 4, but by season's end, he had thrown for 2,272 yards and 15 touchdowns against five interceptions, completing 63.7 per cent of his passes across 14 games. He rushed for 487 yards and nine touchdowns, too, the kind of dual-threat production that gets offensive coordinators reaching for their whiteboards.

John Harbaugh's arrival as head coach in January has only added to the sense of possibility. 'I think [Harbaugh] was the coach that every single one of us had at the top of our list,' Dart told The Post last month. 'He was the coach that we all wanted to play for.'

Three Months In And Counting

The relationship is barely three months old. They took in the Radio City Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular and rang in the new year as a couple, but this is still very early days. Neither has said anything about long-term plans.

After the ceremony on Thursday, Dart was asked once more whether he planned to keep his private life under wraps. He grinned and called Ayers 'the best', which told reporters precisely nothing and probably told Ayers everything she needed to hear.