Tommy DeVito, not to be confused with Danny DeVito, is an up-and-coming talent in the NFL community and is the perfect gentleman to discuss in our final article of Italian American Heritage Month of 2023. Because DeVito is such a youngster in the league, we only have so much information on the young man, but we will dive into everything available.
You can find the first article of Italian American Heritage Month 2023 here, the second article here, and the third article here. Don’t forget to catch our Native American Heritage Month content in November!
In The Beginning, There Was Tommy Devito
Tommy DeVito was born in 1998 in Livingston, New Jersey, to his parents, Alexandra and Tom. He is fully Italian on his dad’s side and German and Costa Rican on his mother’s side. Tommy also has one brother.
During COVID-19, Tommy’s grandmother stayed with the family, and he was very close to her. He’s not very transparent about his family, so sharing with the public his time with his grandmother in her final years was extra meaningful. She passed away in 2022, but DeVito talked about her life and legacy of toughness in an interview:
“She was in hospice and given only three months to live three years ago. But she fought for three years and even survived COVID. Her determination will always be with me, and I will never forget her strength.”
Looking sharp! Nova the Shih Tzu of course, not Tommy (Mohan’s Custom Tailors).
Aww, Tommy!
DeVito attended Don Bosco Prep (not to be confused with the film, Donnie Brasco). Don Bosco Prep is a Catholic small private high school in Ramsey, New Jersey. The school was originally created as a boarding school for Polish boys in 1915.
Who is Don Bosco? Don is an Italian word that people would use to mean a father or priest. Don Jon Bosco was the creator of a specific Catholic congregation that focused on helping poor and immigrant children during the Industrial Revolution. His work was mostly in Europe.
There’s plenty of unsavory information out there about some boarding schools that this group established, but this is about Tommy DeVito, and we’ve gone off in the weeds enough as it is.
Tiny Tommy DeVito in high school – Andrew Mills/NJ.com
In his junior year, Tommy passed for 1,800 yards and 18 touchdowns. In the off-season, DeVito competed in the Elite 11 quarterback competition and was named a finalist. As a senior, Tommy passed for 2,005 yards and 16 touchdowns (let’s just ignore those five interceptions).
The Elite 11 QB Competition finalist was in high demand as a college recruit. Syracuse became DeVito’s home, despite getting offers from other universities like Yale, Temple, Rutgers, the University of Maryland, Penn State, and Boston College.
It’s College Time, Baby!
Tommy Devito redshirted as a freshman as the backup to QB Eric Dungey (not to be confused with Tony Dungy).
DeVito spent a lot of time as the backup for other QBs, and his junior year was cut short by a season-ending leg injury. As a redshirted senior, Tommy was slated to be the starting QB but got his job snagged from him by Garrett Shrader.
Tommy DeVito sporting the Syracuse Orange – Dennis Nett/Syracuse.com
To say the Syracuse QB was not happy is an understatement. Since he got the news two hours before playing Liberty in 2021, he did not return to the Orange’s gridiron and made the choice to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
When DeVito went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he won the starting gig in his first and only season there. In his super senior year, he had 2,650 passing yards with 15 rushing TDs and six rushing TDs with just four interceptions.
Tommy DeVito Breaks Into the NFL
We saw Tommy DeVito for the first time starting in the NFL today, Oct. 29, 2023.
The New York Giants signed DeVito as an undrafted free agent in April and waived him at the tail end of August before he was resigned by the Giants to the practice squad.
Yes, Tommy DeVito! – ESPN
We have only seen him in select moments since he is the third-string QB. It was DeVito’s time to shine since Danny Dimes is thankfully still not playing, and Tyrod Taylor had to be transported to a hospital with a rib injury (remember that time Taylor’s lung got punctured by a LA Charger team doctor when the doctor was trying to shoot his cracked ribs up with painkillers?). Poor Tyrod Taylor.
Tommy DeVito’s performance wasn’t anything to write home about. No quarterback ever looks good leading the New York Giants. It was also one of the coldest days in the New York area for a while, with more rain than usual. And Tommy had to face off against mommy chaser Zach Wilson. No one deserves that combination.
The rookie QB only completed two of his seven passes and got sacked twice. However, he did make the Giants only TD, and it was his first TD in the NFL that he was able to rush in himself.
A rough go isn’t terribly abnormal for a rookie NFL QB. Tommy DeVito has shown us exciting glimmers of talent, and we look forward to seeing what he can do in the following years. Ideally, with a different team. But keep Brian Daboll with Tommy; he’s amazing!
Hopefully you’ve had as much fun celebrating Italian American Heritage Month 2023 as we have. We were able to discuss some incredible Italian-American talents this month.
