It’s time for the New York Giants to give Tommy DeVito another chance. The former Illinois Fighting Illini and Syracuse Orange impressed last season, in the nine games he played, putting up an 89.6 QBR while throwing for eight touchdown passes against only three interceptions. The undrafted free agent efficiently completed 64% of his passes, for 1,101 yards in 2023. But he’s currently behind both Daniel Jones and Drew Lock on the big blue depth chart.
However, Giants legend Tiki Barber is a strong believer in Jones, despite the NYG QB1’s 24-39-1 record as the G-Men’s starting quarterback.
“The reason I feel for him is when you think about his career – this is now his sixth season – he comes in as a rookie,” Barber said to RG.org in relation to Jones and all the scrutiny that he is under..
“He’s immediately replacing a legend in Eli Manning, who is going to be a Hall of Famer. And the pressure on a young quarterback to replace that guy – while he’s still in that room – Eli was there, was hard. And then the coaching change happens and all of a sudden, you have to prove it to a new coach. And then another coaching change happens, you have to prove it again. You get your contract here and you’re proving it. You get paid after having a good season in 2022, but nobody says you’re worth it.”
Jones, a former first round pick, signed a four-year, $160 million deal.
The Giants went just 1-5 in the six games that Jones started last season, before he unfortunately suffered a season-ending torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament. If the name Tommy DeVito sounds like a character in a Martin Scorcese crime drama, and/or like somebody who might actually know the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, well, that’s because it is.
In Goodfellas, the secondary antagonist of the film, played by Joe Pesci, is named Tommy DeVito.
But there is another, perhaps more relevant reason that this name sounds so familiar.
.
There was a member of the Four Seasons with the same name, and he passed away in 2021 at the age of 92 in Las Vegas
He was also a villain, at least in the manner that he was portrayed in Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film “Jersey Boys.”
And the fictionalized Tommy DeVito, in the final scene of the movie when all four members of the band look directly into the camera and reflect on their musical careers/lives, said he worked for Pesci in real life.
So there you have it, the actor who portrayed the fictional Tommy DeVito is the boss of the singer with the same name. It all came full circle; just like it did for this real life Jersey boy, who was the starting quarterback for his hometown team. The Cedar Grove, NJ native was a blue chip, four star prospect when he matriculated from the highly heralded Don Bosco Prep School in New Jersey.
And he’s a proven winner too, as helped lead the 2022 Illini to their first New Year’s Day bowl game in 15 years.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.