Transcript: Quarterback Tommy DeVito

Quarterback Tommy DeVito

Q: Can you even imagine what the first home start is going to feel like and what you're going to be going through?

A: It's going to be a lot of fun. Imagine it's going to be like the last two games, but a little more of my friends and family there. That's really about it. It's a little tougher to play away, in an away atmosphere. So, it'll be home, I'll be comfortable, it'll be a lot of fun.

Q: How many people will you have here?

A: I'm not sure, honestly.

Q: A lot?

A: I assume a lot, but I'm not sure exactly. I wish I could give you a number. I know the last preseason game, the Jets game, I probably had 200 something, but I'm not necessarily sure how many will be here.

Q: What have these last few weeks been like for you?

A: Roller coaster. That could be it. Ups and downs, but we're coming off a hot game. So, trying to carry that energy and everything going into this week.

Q: How are you handling obviously all the attention that's coming with this past week and the past couple of weeks?

A: Staying off the phone. I know it could be all good one week, and then next week, it's all the negative, so I'm trying to stay even keeled through it all and really just focus and keep the main thing the main thing. It's Thanksgiving. You know I was giving turkeys and stuff the last two days, but still just in the facility doing football.

Q: What are the ticket requests like?

A: My ticket requests?

Q: Aren't your family saying we need like, 100 this week?

A: Oh no, no, no, no, no. I shut that down really early and really often. My mom, my dad and my brother get the tickets; everybody else, you're on your own. I set that up in the preseason, and that's how it's going to go.

Q: What's behind the celebration?

A: That was up to (Assistant Athletic Trainer) Phil (Buzzerio), Phil Buzz in AT. He mentioned it to me a couple of weeks ago. I was like, 'Alright, I'll roll with it one of these days,' and he was like, 'This is the week!' Alright, I did it, and then it kind of took off from there.

Q: Is there something Italian to that?

A: Oh, for sure. That's the whole background of it.

Q: Explain it. What does it mean to you?

A: What it means to me? I don't know. I kind of thought it was just the old Italians, when they talk, they start doing this. It's just a little credit to them. A little bit.

Q: What did you like about how the offense operated against the Commanders?

A: We started fast early. I think that was the biggest thing. Something that we've been trying to get to do all year, but fall short of that. So that was really the big emphasis this past week, and it's good to go out and do it. It was good to get the team going, get the defense going and then ultimately helped us win the game, and we look forward to doing that hopefully this week.

Q: When you're on the sidelines, when you're not getting coached up necessarily, are your teammates encouraging you time after time on the sidelines?

A: Yeah, there's a lot of communication that goes on. I mean, some of it's fun, some of it's serious. I like to stay loose when I'm playing and just enjoy the moment, enjoy the process, and enjoy the game. So, nothing too crazy.

Q: A lot of people say when they play the Patriots, especially a rookie quarterback, the (Patriots Head Coach and General Manager Bill) Belichick legend, and the Belichick aura is another opponent on top of that that they've got to get ready for. How do you approach it? How do you feel about going up against that aura?

A: Yeah, I mean, he's one of the greatest of all time or is the greatest of all time coach to ever come through the NFL. It's an honor to be able to play against him. I've been around him a little bit in the past with the Shrine Game, him and the Patriots were my coaching staff for that game. So, I got to know a lot of them and kind of how they go about their business. But it's a challenge I look forward to it. At the end of the day, I'm going to continue to do what I do and prepare and continue to just try to lead this team and lead this offense and not think too much about it.

Q: What'd you learn about them in that week?

A: What you see is what you get. The way he acts, he's always, like, even if there's a touchdown when you see him on TV and he's just standing there just looking, no emotion, it's kind of how he is, or that's how he was at least for that one week. I don't really know him besides that. But yeah, he's an awesome coach.

Q: What's on the Thanksgiving dinner table for the DeVito family?

A: A whole lot. The regular Thanksgiving foods like ham, turkey, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, but then you'll throw in some lasagna, some antipasto, some Italian dishes in there as well.

Q: (inaudible)

A: It's kind of an all-day deal. I'm not sure. I think we get out of here tomorrow at like, 2pm, so the family's going to be waiting for me to get home and then everything will start up.

Q: Are you having any teammates over?

A: No, there are a couple of dudes that might come by; they're trying to figure out what plans they've got going on. But everybody's welcome.

(Tight end Lawrence) Cage(r), I see you back there. You can always come over. You're good. Come get some cutlets, man, I'm sure there will be some. They've actually got cutlets in the cafeteria today if they allow you guys to go in there.

Q: They do not.

A: Well, that's unfortunate.

Q: Does your mom do all the cooking or does your dad?

A: No, my mom. My mom, one of my cousins, Daniel. When he comes over, he does the turkey and the ham and gets on the smoker and does all that. My dad does not cook. I've never seen my dad cook once since I've been alive. He won't make a peanut butter and jelly. My mom handles everything.

Q: How much is your family enjoying this?

A: A lot. They understand everything on the outside that's going on. They probably get more stuff than me. Food wise, they go out to dinner anywhere around the area everything's—people start sending food to the house. It's kind of crazy honestly to an extent, but they enjoy it, and we just appreciate all the support.

Q: With all this eating that you do, how do you stay so thin?

A: (Director of Strength and Performance Craig Fitzgerald) Fitz keeps me right in the weight room, and then just practice. I don't eat too too crazy. Food's there, I let everybody go, I'll have some friends over, and it's a good time.

Q: How are you balancing between enjoying it and staying focused? You said your parents are kind of soaking it in. Have you been able to soak it in or do you have to keep your head down and trudge through it?

A: No, I think there's a 24-hour rule from when the game ends. You enjoy it for that 24 hours and after that it's onto the next week. I enjoyed myself after the game, I hung out with teammates, I was able to see a lot of friends and family and really just was able to relax, decompress, and embrace the moment. After that once yesterday hit, back on.

Q: What do you think you proved on Sunday?

A: That I'm a competitor. I just love to play the game of football. I think that I'll try to show that every time I take snap because you never know what snap is going to be your last. So, I just try to embrace it, go out there and just try to play for my teammates.

Q: You still have your practice squad locker as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Was that your choice? To keep things the same, or have they offered it to you?

A: I mean, no, we never really talked about it, but I wasn't going to move anyways, even if it was. Could have been a gold locker over there, I'm staying right here. It's kind of where I started off this year, so that's where I want to finish this year and then we'll go from there.

Q: A reader actually reached out to me to say, 'You write about Tommy DeVito a lot, but you don't tell us why he was undrafted, you don't tell us about his background.' So why do you think you went undrafted and what don't we know in terms of your football journey?

A: Yeah, it was a long journey. I mean, I dealt with a lot of injuries in the past. Played through a lot of injuries, especially my first year starting in 2019, 2020 – played three games, broke my ankle, was out for the rest of that season. 2021, played three games, had another injury, was kind of out for the rest of

that season. It's kind of been injury filled, and I just had to get a new change of scenery and had a good year at Illinois. It wasn't the perfect road, but it is what it is.

Q: Do you think going to Illinois for that year really propelled you?

A: Definitely. I think that (Illinois) Coach (Bret) Bielema and his staff and everybody that they had in that building were tremendous for me. I think they helped me grow a lot.