Danny Kanell claps back at Jaxson Dart’s father after wild jab at ex-Giants QB: ‘Helicopter dad’

The Danny Kanell–Brandon Dart war continues.

On Sunday, the CBS Sports analyst stated he felt like he had not seen enough evidence to say Jaxson Dart is the future of the Giants franchise and the elder Dart responded “Bro, Eat a Fat One” after the Giants defeated the Raiders, 34-10.

Kanell went on to state his case on VT Sports on Monday.

“Told ya we got a big fat one lined up for ya,” Kanell started on the sports channel while wearing the No. 6 Dart jersey backwards.

While reacting to all the NFL games on CBS, Kanell told his colleagues, who he said had similar viewpoints, what he was going to say about Dart. They warned him he was going to take “so much heat” for the opinion, but Kanell went on to argue he thought it was a “tame take.”

He just isn’t sure why Brandon Dart is commenting on it.

“I’d love to see Jaxson Dart succeed. I think it was a great value in the back end of the first round. He’s shown some flashes. But this is actually a big red flag for me,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re messing and meddling in your son’s business. He’s been online before, calling out officials, calling out other analysts and it brings more attention to you than it does your son and it’s negative attention by calling out anybody in the media. I’m a nobody in the media. Why are you attacking me? I get supporting your son, but bringing this on you. There’s going to be a lot of people — it doesn’t bother me. I don’t care. I get it. But as a dad, this reeks of helicopter dad, who has been involved and it’s been pretty well documented how involved he’s been in his son’s life.

“Just let him go be him. You don’t have to come to your son’s rescue. You don’t have to defend him. Let his play do the talking and it will all be fine. You can keep receipts. You can hold on to everything. But this, to me, doesn’t do Jaxson Dart any favors because you’re just making a target on his back for any critics. I’m pretty used to getting called out like this, but a lot of guys would start rooting against Jaxson Dart so they could be right.”

Kanell reposted his comments on VT Sports on X and tagged Brandon Dart in the post.

While Kanell, who is a former NFL quarterback, isn’t entirely sure yet about Dart being the long-term answer for the Big Blue, he does believe there is more than enough evidence that he will be solid in 2026.

“I don’t know if Jaxson Dart is the long-term answer for the Giants,” he said in his initial take on television. “When I think of a first-round draft pick, I think it’s somebody that you should picture for 10 to 12 years as gonna be your guy. I still haven’t seen development as a passer. He still is running the football, and they’re designing runs for him. But I wanna see him take that next step as a passer, and I just haven’t seen it yet.”

In the victory that went on to lose the Giants the No.1 pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, Dart went 22-for-30 passing for 207 yards with no passing touchdowns and no interceptions. However, he added 48 yards and two rushing scores on nine carries.

Kanell had a six-season NFL career and was the Giants’ starting quarterback throughout the 1997 season.

In that year with several star playmakers, he led the Giants to win the NFC East and a 10-5-1 record. He threw for 1,740 yards for 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions across 16 games.

The Giants and Dart will cap off their season against the Cowboys on Sunday.