There was an unmistakable bounce in the step of everyone in and around 1925 Giants Drive and in the step of Giants fans everywhere Monday.

It isn’t only that a star may have been born in Tampa on Sunday. It’s that a star may have been born at franchise quarterback.

They say there is a curse associated with the Hope Diamond — a beautiful deep blue gem housed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington and worth $200M-$350M.

But Giants fans who have been wandering aimlessly in the desert of despair, thirsting for their first playoff victory since Super Bowl XLVI, will gladly take their chances viewing Daniel Jones as their very own Hope Diamond.

Giants fans have looked on with jealousy at Chiefs fans gushing over Patrick Mahomes, and Texans fans swooning over Deshaun Watson, and Ravens fans celebrating Lamar Jackson and Bills fans marveling over Josh Allen and yes, Jets fans dreaming of a next-generation Joe Namath in Sam Darnold.

Nothing energizes a franchise and a fan base more than watching a young franchise quarterback grow up right before their eyes, from the baby steps to the walking and ultimately to the running to a playoff berth and beyond.

Hope sprang eternal even in December 2004 when the Giants were 5-8, because Eli Manning was quarterbacking his fifth game — against draft classmate Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers — and seats that likely would have been empty were occupied by Giants fans eager for a sneak preview of a better and brighter tomorrow.

There is a reason why Suck for Luck was all the rage by quarterback-desperate franchises, why the Dolphins have decided to Tank for Tua. See all the No. 11 Carson Wentz jerseys at Lincoln Financial Field — and all over Wentzylvania. The No. 10 jerseys at MetLife Stadium won’t disappear, but Jones will inevitably be wearing the most popular No. 8 in New York since Yogi Berra.

It is a quarterback-driven league and there is a buzz around this Danny Dimes Dukie who will be driving the Big Blue Bus for the next decade … or maybe longer.

A franchise quarterback makes teammates and fans believe and is often used as a recruiting tool to attract free agents.

Jones played with Manning’s poise and unflappability and Phil Simms’ fire and was every bit as tough as the both of them.

He was Magic Jones, The Comeback Kid.

Immediate expectations should be tempered because Jones will have to navigate through treacherous waters without Saquon Barkley (high ankle sprain) and try to overcome a defense that cannot possibly be trusted.

There will be the inevitable growing pains in the meantime and reminders that the 2019 season is still more about the 2020 season, when Jones will ideally have 14 starts under his belt and hit the ground running.

Pat Shurmur coached with considerably more nerve against the Bucs, and Jones played with a swag that was infectious to everyone on both sides of the ball.

You can even envision a day when his down-field accuracy and gunslinger moxie and mobility will liberate Barkley from the clutches of the dreaded eight-man box.

Now one game, even one otherworldly game, does not automatically make you a star. It doesn’t make you Pete Alonso. But when a franchise and a fan base have had the luxury of Manning as their quarterback for what seems like an eternity, there is angst over when and how the torch will be passed, and to whom.

To them, this one game seemed like the equivalent of a 50-home run season.

Dave Gettleman — who passed on Darnold and Allen — and Shurmur and ownership wished upon a star. Barkley made their wish came true a year ago. But he doesn’t play quarterback. He helped 3-13 improve to 5-11, nothing more.

Again, this was one game, one otherworldly game. One otherworldly game that left everyone connected to the Giants and rooting for them with an unmistakable twinkle in their eye.