USA Olympic star Ilona Maher endured an awkward run-in with New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Maher, who led the USA to bronze in the women’s rugby 7s at the 2024 Paris Olympics, handed the NFL star a severe reality check during the Super Bowl week in February.
The rugby icon recently revealed that she had no idea who the signal caller was when she ran into him at a party during the big game festivities.
‘When I was at the Super Bowl, I went to this party and there’s a lot of like football players from the Giants were there,’ Maher told her sisters, Olivia and Adrianna Maher, on Tuesday’s episode of their ‘House of Maher’ podcast.
‘There’s this one guy, he’s like blond, he’s an attractive guy, young-looking, and I’m like, “Hey what’s up man?”‘
She continued, ‘I’m like, “hey, you play football?”‘
USA Olympic star Ilona Maher endured an awkward run-in with NFL quarterback Jaxson Dart
Maher led the USA to bronze in the women’s rugby 7s at the 2024 Paris Olympics
The former Ole Miss standout played his first season in the league with the Giants last year
Even when Dart confirmed that he was indeed a football player, Maher still failed to connect the dots. She continued to press him.
‘I’m like, “What team do you play for?” Mind you this is Giants’ (Cam) Skattebo’s party,’ she said. ‘And I was like “Sweet, man that’s awesome. What position are you?”‘
It was only when Dart finally revealed that he played quarterback did Maher realize her faux pas.
‘No idea,’ she told her sisters. ‘I mean he knew who I was.’
To add insult to injury, Maher then revealed that her friend Casey also humbled Giants backup quarterback Jameis Winston at the same party.
‘Then Casey did it as well, she had a football in hand … one of the football players goes to like take it from her. And, she’s just a funny person, she goes ‘You know ball?’ to Jameis Winston. He looked at her like [insert confused face] and walked away,’ Maher said.
‘This is a party for the Giants and we’re humbling these guys left and right.’
Not the most encouraging endorsement for the Giants ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
