Tommy DeVito The Record
By Arthur Weinstein on

The New York Giants dug deep into their quarterback depth chart Sunday and gave rise to an instant New York folk hero.

Tommy DeVito, a 25-year-old rookie who played at Syracuse and Illinois, made his NFL debut after Tyrod Taylor suffered a rib injury in the first half against the New York Jets. (Taylor was starting in place of Daniel Jones, who’s sidelined with a neck injury.)

DeVito instantly thrilled many New York fans, not with his play, but his name and heritage. The New York area has a sizable Italian-American population, and many of those fans jumped on social media to trumpet DeVito’s NFL debut. By the way, if the name sounds familiar, it was the name of Joe Pesci’s character in the popular 1990 film Goodfellas. Going further back, another Tommy DeVito founded and was lead guitarist of the 1960s pop band, New Jersey’s own, The Four Seasons.

The fact DeVito is a local guy (Livingston, N.J.) only added to the intrigue.

The Giants lost in horrible fashion, as the Jets tied the game at the end of regulation, then won in overtime, 13-10. DeVito had a horrendous stat line, completing 2-of-7 passes for minus 1 yard. He did, however, score his first NFL touchdown on a short run.

So even though Giants fans weren’t celebrating DeVito’s game, they loved his name, and had a lot of fun on social media. As one fan aptly noted on X/Twitter, “Things I love about Tommy DeVito: He’s Italian, he’s from NJ and his name is Tommy DeVito Things I don’t love about Tommy DeVito: He’s playing QB for the Giants in a real game.”

 

[Austin Williams]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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