Joe Judge was there. And the new Giants head coach instructed all the assistants he has hired to make sure they were in the field house to hear and soak in the Eli Manning retirement event.

Judge will never get to work with Manning, as Tom Coughlin, Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur did before him. Judge, though, wanted his staff to take in this special Giants moment as he embarks on his job trying to get back to the winning ways Manning produced for the franchise during the first half of his 16-year career.

“I would just say big-picture wise, you can’t be a part of this league without having a tremendous amount of respect for how Eli played on the field and conducted himself off the field,’’ Judge said. “I didn’t have the opportunity to work with him directly. I’m proud to be part of the organization that he’s part of. I tell you what now, everything he stood for is exactly what this organization stands for.’’

Judge and Manning did have time Friday to chat and that is when the Egg Bowl stories came out. Manning went to Mississippi and Judge went to Mississippi State. They played against each other; Manning is 39, Judge is 38.

“We got one,’’ Judge said of his success in the rivalry game against Manning’s Ole Miss squad. “I tell you what now, he was tough to beat. Eli’s tough to beat now. They were really tough when Eli was down there. He makes everyone around him better.’’

Asked about his hopes for Daniel Jones, the quarterback he has inherited, Judge maintained the policy he has adopted since getting hired and steered clear of discussing any of his players.

For more on Eli’s retirement, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast: