I absolutely despite the Giants. There, I said it.

Yes, I am a Jersey Girl through and through, but I can’t stand the two so-called “New York” teams that, you know, just happen to play somewhere other than New York.

Yeah, I know. History… whatever.

But then comes along Tommy DeVito. An American of Italian descent. A guy from my home county of Essex. And now he’s the starting quarterback for the Giants.

So who is Tommy DeVito?

Born in Livingston, DeVito grew up in Cedar Grove and attended Don Bosco. He started his college career at Syracuse and transferred to Illinois.

He was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent in April of this year. He was waived in August and re-signed to the team’s practice squad. He made his debut as a Giant in a game at Met Life Stadium (better known as the Meadowlands or Giants Stadium to us locals) against the Jets. He wasn’t even officially on the roster until Halloween.

Daniel Jones is out for the season. Tyrod Taylor is on injured reserve with a rib injury. That makes DeVito the starting quarterback.

This is definitely the year of the backup QB in the NFL.

Of course there was a flurry of articles about DeVito this week. Who is this guy? Everyone loves to hear the back story. For example, Brock Purdy, quarterback of the 49ers, (my team, by the way) spent his bye week helping out on the farm of his fiancée’s family during the harvest.

So what is DeVito’s story? He’s a typical Italian boy from Jersey. Especially when he revealed he still lives at home and his mom still cooks for him.

“There is a lot going on, a lot of meetings. So everything outside of football is handled by my family. I don’t have to worry about laundry, what I’m eating for dinner, chicken cutlets and all that is waiting for me when I get there.” ~Tommy DeVito

Every Italian mama knows the sun rises and sets on the boys of the family. And it’s obviously the case for him as well. I’m sure there are people out there that are thinking, “he still lives at home? He’s a grown man! He’s crazy!”

For those of us who were raised the same way, we all get it. There’s nothing like mom’s or grandma’s cooking. Period.

So even though I’m not a fan of the team, a little part of me is rooting for him to do well. A local guy, playing for the local team, eating chicken cutlets cooked by his mother. What could be better?