Tommy DeVito on pizzeria flap – some ‘stuff slipped through the cracks’

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito admitted some things have “slipped through the cracks” and recently hired a new marketing team to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future.

DeVito hired Maxx Lepselter and Maxx MGMT to handle its marketing several weeks ago. He didn't fire agent Sean Stellato, who became an Internet sensation a few weeks ago with his outfit for “Monday Night Football.

“That's not the case. Sean is my contract agent. That's what he is,” DeVito said. “And I now have a marketing team to handle all the other things.”

This was all in the works before a local pizzeria, Coniglio's Old Fashioned in Morristown, claimed in an Instagram post that DeVito's agent increased appearance fees from $10,000 to $20,000 after a come-from-behind victory last Monday against the Green Bay Packers. Lepselter and Stellato sat with DeVito's family during that victory.

But DeVito fixed the problem by showing up at Coniglio's house on Tuesday.

“Obviously there’s always a million things going on,” he said. “Some things fell through the cracks. As soon as I found out about it, through my phone, I'm sure some of you did on ESPN, and I was like, 'What the hell? -what it is ?'

“I made a few calls to my team and to Tom [Coniglio] and I fixed the problem and wanted to go. I found out about it on Monday and said maybe I would go there the next day. I went there on Tuesday. Over there [we had] “

This is only a concern because of the DeVito craze. The undrafted rookie, a local legend who grew up in New Jersey and calls home, won three of his first four starts before Sunday's loss at New Orleans. He quickly became famous in the region thanks to the way he played (seven touchdown passes to one interception in five starts), as well as his local roots and Italian heritage.

It always starts with football.

“I don't handle any discussions until everything is finalized with the contract in front of my face, and then I sign it,” DeVito said. “It's the only time I like to know what's going on because it's their job to figure it out and do all this because I'm here to do this. And my family knows it, my agent knows it, my marketing team, everyone. I know that. That's part of why I live at home too, so they can handle all of this and I don't have to worry about anything else than being here in the building.

Even though DeVito has been in the spotlight for years as the starting quarterback at New Jersey powerhouse Don Bosco Prep, in college (at Syracuse and Illinois) and now with the Giants, that type of attention is at the upper level. He knows he must be extra careful.

Wanting to correct the misunderstanding was important to DeVito.

“It obviously got blown out of proportion,” veteran offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. “But even with that, Tommy did the right thing, he went there, met the family and shook their hand.”

DeVito seems to understand that this is the price of fame. “Everything you do is put under a microscope, times 100 or more now,” DeVito said. “Everything that happens will be in some sort of article somewhere like how this happened. I'm sure if this had happened a month ago it probably wouldn't have happened like this s It happened. But it did. So, I got cleaned up. .Keep being yourself, though.

That means focusing on football. DeVito and the Giants (5-9) face the Eagles (10-4) on Christmas Day in Philadelphia. That comes with enough challenges.

DeVito said he expects a “hostile environment.” He looks forward to it.

For what?

“It’s fun,” he said. “It's part of the game. I like hostile crowds.”

There are sure to be lots of holiday greetings from the city of Philadelphia. He will have a message in return.

“I’ll say Merry Christmas right back,” DeVito said. “That's it.”