Tommy DeVito takes a picture with Joe Gossweiler, owner of The Hobby Hive, his wife Alyssa, and son Jaxon. B Hyland.
Every day on his way to school, 10-year-old Peter Falzo from Cedar Grove walks past Tommy DeVito’s house. For the young Giants fan, an opportunity to meet the hometown hero turned NFL quarterback was “really exciting.”
Tuesday night, DeVito signed autographs and took pictures with fans at The Hobby Hive in East Hanover. That’s where Falzo, a football player himself, told DeVito they were from the same town and asked him to sign his cleat. DeVito, the Giants’ undrafted rookie who has transformed into a local icon since his first start in Week 10, did so with a smile.
That same kid, I was in his shoes not too many years ago, doing the same thing, walking around,” DeVito told NJ Advance Media. “I appreciate all the support from everybody.”
That support was clear at The Hobby Hive, where nearly 200 people bought tickets to meet the 25-year-old. The smiles, the “fuggedaboudits,” and all of the pinched fingers thrown into the air made it clear: fans love Tommy DeVito.
Six-year-old Brayden Harris, who waited outside The Hobby Hive excitedly in his Giants Santa hat, practiced his Italian accent (”Calamad!”) while waiting to meet DeVito, who at 3-2 as the Giants’ starter has also given the offense life.
“It’s fun to root for him with our Italian heritage,” said his mother, Daniella Harris. “And having a positive light being brought back into the, sometimes stigma, in New Jersey, it’s making it super positive and wholesome. I love having my kids root for him.”
At the nearly sold-out event, fans could choose to purchase from a range of DeVito memorabilia — from “Tommy Cutlets” hats to T-shirts with his signature “Italian hand” gesture. And the complementary — and on-brand — souvenir for all fans: a chicken cutlet sandwich, DeVito’s favorite, for the road.
After meeting DeVito, 8-year-old Antonio Pisano-Conte was wide-eyed. He had just told the quarterback, who he usually watches on TV with his grandfather, “I’m so happy to see you in real life.”
While the Giants’ three-game win streak was snapped in New Orleans on Sunday and they enter Week 16 against the Eagles at 5-9 with a 1% chance of making the playoffs, DeVito has provided a spark that extends off of the field. He has connected with the area as a graduate of Don Bosco who embraces his Italian heritage and still lives at home with his mom and dad.
“He’s the biggest thing right now in New York sports,” said Joe Gossweiler, owner of The Hobby Hive. “We support him. He’s a local kid, only a few towns away from here, so we’re excited to have him here.
It was a bustling day for DeVito, who went through the early evening time marking signatures at Bubbakoo’s Burritos in Livingston prior to heading over, unannounced, to Coniglio’s in Morristown, where Tuesday night’s occasion was initially expected to occur however was dropped on the grounds that the expense supposedly expanded. Then, DeVito advanced toward The Leisure activity Hive, which opened recently (it was already WOW Sports Cards in Montclair). There, the fervor was obvious — from kids meeting their recently discovered symbol toward the East Hanover cops working the occasion who popped in a short time later to snap a picture with the quarterback.
“Him being in the space is perfect,” said Leisure activity Hive worker Cameron Carmen. ” It constructs energy for the actual occasion, and it likewise assembles fervor for him. Everybody gets assisted.”
This late spring, DeVito couldn’t actually say whether he would make the group. He was the starter and had developed into a lot more by the 12th of November, following injuries to Tyrod Taylor and Daniel Jones.
“Seeing the grin all over, that sort of says it perfectly,” he said about conversing with the children on Tuesday. ” Yet, I simply give them a little dap, attempt to respond to any football questions they have, and attempt to make them grin.”
