He is Cinderella Man, or maybe we should call him Mozzarella Man, the Italian Jersey Guy who has out of nowhere taken the New York Football Giants on an exhilarating ride and set his home stadium on fire.
Tommy DeVito, with help from his new friends, beat Bill Belichick’s Patriots, 10-7, on Sunday. He threw one 12-yard TD pass to Isaiah Hodgins in the second quarter and, except for an early fumble on an aborted play, did nothing to lose the game.
He did everything to capture the hearts of his team and his town.
Tommy DeVito — a.k.a. Tommy Cutlets — is The King of Swag.
He is Rocky Balboa in shoulder pads and a helmet wearing No. 15.
For the Giants, he is their Goodfella.
“Did you see the watch he wore? You gotta look at the picture of the watch he wore in here today,” Justin Pugh told The Post.
Tommy DeVito throws a pass during the Giants’ win over the Patriots on Nov. 26, 2023. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostIt was a watch the size of Cedar Grove, N.J., just another place where time stood still on Sunday watching Tommy DeVito win his first game in his hometown stadium where he once led Don Bosco Prep to a state championship.
“To be able to do it here at home for my first time, it’s surreal,” DeVito said. “I’m gonna enjoy the moment.”
He was the last Giant announced in the pregame introductions, and the place turned into a veritable finger-purse-emoji convention as the theme from “The Sopranos” blared.
“I kinda blacked out,” DeVito said. “I didn’t know if people were cheering or booing, or what was going on. It could have been anything, but I was just locked in, enjoying it.”
In Section 109, parents Tom and Alexandra were having the time of their lives with family and friends.
Hodgins has no idea what the finger purse or the pinched-finger celebration means, but he had one prepared anyway.
“I told him before the game, I said if I get one I’m gonna do that with you in the end zone, so we had a little one today,” Hodgins said and smiled.
Hodgins caught the pass at the 7 and stiff-armed Jonathan Jones to get into the end zone.
“If we get a specific look,” DeVito had told him, “it’s coming your way.”
Tommy DeVito (15) celebrates with Isaiah Hodgins during the Giants’ win over the Patriots on Nov. 26, 2023. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostThe finger purse has become contagious.
“Everybody is doing it at this point,” DeVito said. “Cool with it. Just a vibe. It’s a lot of fun.”
Fat chance DeVito (17-for-25, 191 yards, 2-1 as starter) would be seeing ghosts against the GOAT.
“When you’re on the field, bring your own kind of confidence and swagger,” DeVito said. “Kaf [OC Mike Kafka] talks about that a lot in our offensive meetings, to let your personality show and I just try to do that every play.”
DeVito’s deep ball unleashed fellow QB-friendly rookie Jalin Hyatt (5-109).
“When you have a confident quarterback,” Hyatt said, “you can do anything you want.”
Even this:
“First of all, he doesn’t throw in warm-ups,” Hyatt said. “But he goes out there and throws beautiful passes. That just shows me how confident he is in himself and with this team, so I’m very proud of him.”
I asked Hyatt if he has asked DeVito about his routine.
“I ask him every day about it.”
DeVito’s response?
“I don’t have to.”
Hyatt: “I think it’s one of those things where he’s a game player, and that’s what I respect about him the most. We know what we’re gonna get out of him when he goes out there on game day, so I don’t question anything about what he does in warm-ups.”
Tommy DeVito is becoming the Giants’ Cinderella Man. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostDeVito (three receiver drops) has enough arm to go with his abundance of moxie.
“We talk all the time in practice like if you’re running a slant or a dig, next thing you know that ball is on your facemask,” Hodgins said.
In a light rain in the postgame parking lot, Tom DeVito, a plumber by trade, talked proudly about his live-in King of Swag.
“Any profession, when you’re good at what you do, then you approach it confident,” he said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re a car mechanic, a chef, whatever you do, you do your job well, you’re gonna approach it with confidence.”
The pregame ovation?
“I just told my buddies right here, all of ’em — Vin, what did I just tell you was my best part of the day?”
Tommy DeVito throws a pass during the Giants’ win over the Patriots on Nov. 26, 2023. Bill Kostroun/New York PostVinny Pantusa: “Favorite moment of the day before the game even started, they call out the offense, and they call Tommy out last. That was absolutely amazing to hear that. Incredible.”
Alexandra DeVito, smiling: “He’s ‘Cousin Vinny.’ ”
The ovation?
“It was amazing,” she said. “There’s so many people that are cheering my son, our son, that I can’t believe it. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom, there was about 15, 20 people that wanted to take a picture with me because I’m the mother of Tommy. They’re all excited for my kid to be playing at MetLife Stadium. No. 15, he’s doing his thing.”
He’s doing a thing few undrafted rookie quarterbacks are expected to do.
“I’m gonna go out and try to prove myself every single time I step on the field, whether I would have been drafted No. 1 overall or undrafted as I was. That status and all that doesn’t really mean anything, but how you go out and play means something.”
To the Giants family, to the DeVito family, it only means everything.
