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Tommy DeVito’s biggest challenge yet: Proving he’s not a football gimmick as Giants QB

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Tommy DeVito’s biggest challenge yet: Proving he’s not a football gimmick as Giants QB

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EAST RUTHERFORD – By now, for longevity’s sake in the NFL, the biggest challenge facing Tommy DeVito as he takes over again as the starting quarterback of the New York Giants is not beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That’s not to disrespect Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles’ blitz-happy defense that will be coming to MetLife Stadium looking to continue the Giants‘ offensive misery regardless of who is quarterbacking the team on Sunday.

Winning the game and playing well matters, of course, especially for Brian Daboll, Joe Schoen and a franchise that is once again being portrayed as a clown show with rumors and speculation blurring the line between fact and fiction.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle, ultimately resting on performance.

What DeVito needs to prove more than anything else right now is that he can be more than a football gimmick who makes a few bucks by being famous off the field.

And make no mistake: the former Don Bosco star who has emerged as a local legend in the New York and New Jersey area within the past year wants nothing else at this point.

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At 26, DeVito embraced the fame for what it is. He has packed sandwich shops in North Jersey for autograph signings and accepted more sponsorship opportunities than anyone would have anticipated for a relatively unknown player outside of his hometown of Cedar Grove and in the high school football communities that were dominated for years by Don Bosco and its rivalries with Bergen Catholic, St. Joseph-Montvale, St. Peter’s Prep and Paramus Catholic.

With all the focus on “finger purse” gestures, signings and trademark filings during his remarkable six-game rise as a rookie last season, what was lost is just how far he came as a QB with the Giants, and in such a short time.

Now that he’s back as the quarterback of the Giants, DeVito’s primary focus is on the job and show he belongs.

Because nothing else matters for what comes next in the life of DeVito, which was turned upside down in a six-week blitz last year in ways he could have never imagined.

So the edict went out hours after DeVito was named the starting quarterback of the Giants on Monday morning, sent to family, friends, agents, really anyone who needed to hear it:

His priority was going to be football, and he had no time for anything else.

“All that other stuff,” DeVito told NorthJersey.com in the locker room Wednesday. “Love it, but take it somewhere else.”

DeVito’s benching at halftime of the Christmas Day loss in Philadelphia was celebrated in some circles as if the opportunity he earned was granted because he won a hometown contest to be an NFL player for a day or something like that.

Through hard work, persistence and a skill set that was still growing, DeVito has had to fight for everything he gets with the Giants since he walked into the building with a guaranteed salary of $10,000 and a long-shot dream as an undrafted player to make the team two years ago.

Too many lost their own perspective regarding his story, and that’s not on him despite what critics have suggested.

Far too much was made about what DeVito isn’t as a player without understanding and appreciation of what he has actually achieved here.

And for all DeVito accomplished, completing 114 of 178 passes for 1,101 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions, winning three of his starts, he was seen more as a sideshow than a developing NFL player.

Yet that was last year. The most significant change now as DeVito took his first practice snaps with the first-team offense since last Christmas on Wednesday: he has officially moved out of his childhood home in Cedar Grove.

Tommy Cutlets also joked this summer about broadening his palate, even though Tommy Sushi likely won’t sell as well.

This is the NFL, and quarterbacks aren’t supposed to learn on the job the way he did.

“My mindset has never changed,” DeVito said. “What happened last year was crazy, and it really hit me when I’m getting tagged in photos [on Instagram] at Christmas time with kids opening my jersey as their gifts. It’s wild, and it’s a reality check. But honestly, I’m working on becoming the best quarterback I can be for this team. Keep my head down. Work hard. Do my job. I know how bad I want this, so that’s my focus for whenever that opportunity comes again.”

And just like that, Tommy DeVito has that unexpected opportunity once again.

Unlike last season, a whole lot more people know his name now. The quest is about showing the Giants and the rest of us that he’s a better quarterback than the one many remember from his first NFL go-around.

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