New Hampshire RB Takes Fast Track From The Hamptons To Senior Bowl With Eli Manning Assist

MOBILE, Alabama - University of New Hampshire running back Dylan Laube grew up in The Hamptons ocean resort in New York.

So meeting famous NFL head coaches or general managers and catching passes from star college quarterbacks like Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and Bo Nix of Oregon here at the Senior Bowl is no big thing. Actor Adam Sandler lives near him.

Oh, and when Laube was 10 in 2011, then-New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was spotted.

"We all heard, ‘Hey, Eli’s in town,'" Laube said during Senior Bowl Media Day Wednesday. Kickoff is Saturday (1 p.m., eastern, NFL Network) at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

"I never got to meet him," Laube said.

University of New Hampshire running back Dylan Laube practices for the North team at the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Not then. But by the time Laube was playing at Westhampton Beach High School from 2014-17, Manning had bought a house in The Hamptons and needed some local high school players to throw the football with during the springs and summers.

"I got asked to do it for like three summers - sophomore, junior and senior years," Laube said. "I was alone catching passes from him several times. It was awesome."

Senior Bowl RB Dylan Laube Played Catch With Eli Manning

It also paid off. Laube caught 12 passes for a New Hampshire Wildcats record 295 yards with 80- and 71-yard touchdowns in a 45-42 loss at Central Michigan last season and finished with 371 all-purpose yards. This caught Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy's eye.

"It was an insanely productive game," Nagy said this week. "He just runs away from people. We saw the speed. And there's some really cool versatility that way."

Laube is only 5-foot-10 and 208 pounds, but the speed makes up for it. And he may play some receiver in Saturday's Senior Bowl.

"If we have to play him at receiver here, I would feel great about it," Nagy said. "That's what drew him to us." 

A first team Associated Press All-American for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) New Hampshire, he led the FCS nation in all-purpose yards last season with 209.5 yards a game. Laube rushed for 749 and nine touchdowns on 160 attempts, caught 68 passes for 699 yards and seven TDS, returned 15 kickoffs for 467 yards and a TD and returned 16 punts for 180 yards and a TD.

"He's really a natural receiver," Nagy said. "He's not just a guy you leak out of the backfield and hit him on swings. This guy can legitimately motion out, detach in the slot, run option routes. He's really good at the top of the route. He gets open. He can track the ball deep. He does a lot that running backs can't do."

And he has caught passes from a two-time Super Bowl champion.

The Mannings - from left, Cooper, Eli, Peyton and dad Archie in New Orleans in 2013. (Getty Images)

"He's so funny," Laube said. "He's like he is on TV. And so nice. What was cool was by the end of the workouts with him in high school in the mornings, the whole field was packed with fans for autographs. And it was like 7:45 a.m. But he made sure he talked to every single person around the field. He wasn't like, ‘Hey, I’m going home now.' He probably stayed for like an extra hour. He's a great guy."

Eli's dad, Archie Manning - the former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints great quarterback - and Eli's older brother Cooper visited Eli while Laube was in high school. Cooper brought his son Arch, who was about 10 or 11 at the time.

"Who's the nephew? Arch Manning? Yeah, I met him before he became famous," Laube said.

Dylan Laube Saw Arch Manning Before He Was Arch Manning

Arch Manning was a freshman quarterback at Texas last season and was the No. 1 prospect in the nation coming out of Newman High in New Orleans in 2023.

"He was like in sixth grade, and he was slinging the ball all over the place," Laube said. "And we're like, ‘Who the heck is this kid? It's got to be a Manning.'"

Laube received a few of those reviews this week as he ran around at Senior Bowl practices.

"I've been dreaming about this - playing at the Senior Bowl," he said. "And it finally came. I'm trying to make the best of my opportunity and just run with it. When I got the invite, I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is surreal. I'm actually going to the Senior Bowl.' It was crazy."