Tommy DeVito is the perfect local story.
The underdog status. The charisma. The cultural connection. The viral moments. Doing it in the country’s biggest market.
All the ingredients have come together to make DeVito one of the biggest stories in sports. In some ways, it has transcended sports, making him one of the biggest stories in New York and New Jersey.
The Giants’ last-second, 24-22 win over the Packers on “Monday Night Football” introduced DeVito, the undrafted rookie quarterback who began the season on the practice squad, grew up in New Jersey and still lives there with his parents, to a national audience, and he delivered with his best moment yet in primetime.
He led a game-winning drive with just over a minute left in the game, guiding the Giants to an upset and their third straight win.
His charisma was on full display as he wore a bright pink jacket before and after the game and confidently led his teammates in crunch time.
There were endless viral moments, between his clenched-hand celebration in homage to his Italian heritage and his family and agent, who have completely leaned into their ethnic roots. DeVito’s family served chicken cutlets — one of DeVito’s professed favorites — to fans at their pregame tailgate, kissed each other incessantly in the stands and performed DeVito’s iconic celebration. And, oh yeah, his agent, Sean Stellato, was dressed as if he walked straight off the set of “The Godfather.”
Underdog status, charisma, viral moments, cultural connection — DeVito has checked all the boxes for what can make for a sports hero, especially in New York.
As The Post’s Mike Vaccaro writes, it’s the same blueprint that Jeremy Lin rode during “Linsanity,” likely the last great local Cinderella story since “Tommy Cutlets” emerged.
“It’s when it gets national. And New York is a great firestarter for making it national,” Evan Jackson Leong, who directed the award-winning “Linsanity” documentary, told Sports+. “He wins three in Milwaukee, nobody really cares. You win three in New York, people are picking it up and it starts going.
“The thing about being in New York is, the catalyst is there. It doesn’t need to get any more hype, he just needs to perform.”
Beyond his stunning on-field play, DeVito has delivered something the Giants have largely lacked for nearly two decades — personality from the quarterback.
Though he’s shown his sense of humor and wit since retiring, Eli Manning was intentionally bland during his playing days, not revealing much about his personal life. His fashion sense was even blander, and he wouldn’t dare attempt to wear the sort of flamboyant attire DeVito sported on Monday.
Daniel Jones is cut from a near-identical cloth as Manning, similarly keeping media and fans at arm’s length. It’s rare to even see him smile. And has anyone, ever, seen Jones wear pink?
Lin similarly delivered something rarely seen before — an undrafted kid playing with the confidence and moxie of a seasoned pro, unafraid of some of the NBA’s biggest stars.
And both certainly went viral while performing in primetime.
For Lin, he had a game-winner against the Raptors and 38 points against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.
DeVito’s scrambling, on-the-run touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins Monday night was perhaps the best the Giants have seen this year. His touchdown celebration is now known across the league, and his teammates — heck, even general manager Joe Schoen — unveil it every chance they get.
“It comes down to amazing plays,” Leong said. “He makes the highlight, he makes the moment that is gonna be broadcast across the country. The way the world works with social media now, you have a 10-second play they can play on TikTok, that’s gonna change the game. That becomes viral, that becomes, ‘Who is this kid? Who is this guy?’ And then people learn. …
“Once the pressure is on you to do well and all these people are expecting it of you, and you just started playing like a month ago, if you can rise to that occasion, you’re different.”
For both, there is also a cultural aspect.
Lin captivated the vibrant Asian community both in New York and around the world, providing a star they could rally around.
DeVito has done the same with the flourishing Italian community in New York and New Jersey. He and his family have embraced how much fans love their Italian background, and he’s become a hero not just for sports fans, but Italians everywhere.
“That’s the transcendence of sports,” Leong said. “When you get past the point of the people that are just fans and then it crosses over to the mainstream. I remember Kim Kardashian wanted to go on a date with Jeremy Lin at that point. When it comes over to that mainstream media and popular culture, that’s the moment everything changes.”
Now the only question is, how long will Tommy Cutletsanity last?
But at the moment, he’s the perfect local story.
Today’s front and back pages
Steve Cohen’s price check
Steve Cohen’s reputation is on the line in the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes.
The star pitcher from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball is MLB’s most-anticipated free agent after Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers.
Yamamoto’s contract could reach upward of $300 million including a posting fee, and a plethora of heavyweights — including the Dodgers again, Yankees, Red Sox, Giants and Blue Jays — are reportedly pursuing him.
Cohen, with the highest net worth of any MLB owner, bought the Mets with the expectation he’d have them at the top of the bidding for marquee free agents.
He delivered last offseason, building the highest Opening Day payroll ($344 million) in MLB history, blowing past the new luxury tax bracket, dubbed the “Steve Cohen Tax,” instituted in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement in anticipation of his lavish and historic spending.
But that plan failed disastrously, as the Mets finished 75-87 and offloaded much of those highly priced assets, namely Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
And now, in David Stearns’ first offseason as president of baseball operations, the Mets have thus far been extremely quiet in free agency.
Cohen himself said he’d like to build the Mets in the Dodgers mold by combining star power and a sustainable farm system. But the Mets never made a formal offer to Ohtani, The Post’s Mike Puma reported, before the generational superstar signed a 10-year, $700 million deal. Cohen told The Athletic that the star’s agent never even reached out to the Mets owner.
There should be no owner more comfortable with any price than Cohen, but not angling to sign off on the richest contract in sports history is understandable.
Yamamoto is a different story.
The Mets have clear interest in the 25-year-old three-time winner of Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award.
Cohen and Stearns even flew to Japan to meet with Yamamoto and his family two weeks ago, though team officials don’t know whether they will get — or need — a second meeting with Yamamoto.
But the Dodgers are in the mix to sign the ace pitcher, too, largely due to the fact Ohtani’s contract has $68 million in deferrals per year, lowering his average annual salary for luxury-tax accounting to $46 million, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported.
Could Cohen really allow the team he sees as a blueprint to capture the two biggest prizes of free agency?
The Yankees are also heavily linked, and team brass met this week with Yamamoto in California.
With the Yankees already having already traded for Juan Soto, does Cohen really want to let his cross-town rivals secure two of the biggest headlines of the offseason?
That certainly wouldn’t jibe with his reputation as the financial bully willing to pay more than anyone else and refusing to be out-bid.
If Yamamoto has his heart set on the Dodgers or the Yankees, or another suitor, then so be it.
But it cannot be because the Mets did not offer the biggest contract, or Cohen has some explaining to do.
The arc of Julius Randle’s season
Julius Randle has returned to the scoring force the Knicks need him to be.
Seemingly back to full strength after battling through an early-season ankle injury, Randle has been red-hot the past seven games.
He’s averaging 28.1 points per game during that stretch on 57.5 percent shooting from the field and 41.4 percent from behind the arc.
In the first 15 games of the season, he averaged 19.1 points on a paltry 38 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from behind the arc.
Perhaps most notably, Randle’s shot selection has improved. He averaged 6.1 3-pointers per game in those first 15 games, and has dropped that figure to 4.1 per game in the past seven games.
Being more selective from deep has helped him dramatically raise his 3-point percentage.
Randle is actually taking more shots in the latest stretch — from 17.2 field-goal attempts per game to 18.1 — but is creating higher-quality looks.
In his past seven games, 49.6 percent of his shot attempts have come within 10 feet of the basket and 29.9 percent of his shots were considered open (closest defender 4-6 feet away).
Instead of relying on the 3-pointer, Randle has begun to use it as a complement to his inside game.
And his scoring has surged as a result.
The Knicks (13-9) are 4-3 during Randle’s surge with losses to the superpower Suns, Bucks and Celtics.
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ Juan Soto was introduced as a member of the Yankees on a Zoom call, and faced his first (but not last!) round of questions about his contract situation going into a walk year. “They know where to call and who to talk to,” Soto said. Meaning, ahem: Scott Boras.
⚾ Remember the Mets’ plans to fill third base internally? About that. Intriguing 22-year-old prospect Ronny Mauricio will undergo surgery for a torn ACL suffered in Winter League, depleting their options before the competition even starts.
🏒 Call it a Rangers slump. The Blueshirts allowed four first-period goals en route to a 7-3 loss to the visiting Maple Leafs. One culprit? “They are going to need more from [Igor] Shesterkin going forward,” writes The Post’s Larry Brooks.
🎙 The Post’s Andrew Marchand had the news: Al Michaels will not be assigned to call an NFL playoff game for NBC, surprising the play-by-play legend and likely ending his run on broadcast TV.
🏈 Would presumptive 2024 starter Aaron Rodgers sign off on the Jets selecting a franchise-quarterback-in-waiting with their top draft pick?
🏀 Quentin Grimes’ renaissance off the Knicks bench is underway.
🏀 Draymond Green continued the WWE audition going on his head, getting ejected from the Warriors’ loss — again — for punching someone.
🏈 A new report says Patriots owner Robert Kraft decided to get rid of Bill Belichick weeks ago.
🚚 The Washington Wizards and Capitals are, um, moving out of Washington.
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