Transcript: Quarterback Tommy DeVito

Quarterback Tommy DeVito

Q. What have you heard about Eagles fans? It's going to be your first time playing at the Linc on Christmas day with Eagles fans probably not welcoming you warmly…

A: I heard it's a pretty hostile environment, I'm looking forward to it. I like to thrive in those environments.

Q. You like being the villain?

A: It's fun. It's part of the game. I like a hostile crowd.

Q. What's the most hostile crowd you've ever faced?

A: A Bergen-Bosco game. You ever seen one of those? 15,000 in the crowd, don't go well. For your family and all.

Q. What do you think will be going through your head when they're booing you? Wishing you a Happy Christmas or Merry Christmas in their own way.

A: Hey, I'll say Merry Christmas right back and that's that.

Q. This team obviously lost to the Eagles last year in the playoffs, three times last year, how big would a win against that team mean for you and your future?

A: It'll be huge. I think all wins are huge, obviously, but you know, when you're coming off a loss like we did last week it'll make that win that much better.

Q. But to have a win against the Eagles would sort of be like an extra boost on the resume, no?

A: I guess so. I don't know, I've never played against the Eagles before in the league so my slate at the moment is 0-0. So, I look forward to going out and just trying to be 1-0.

Q. What have you observed about their defense?

A: They're good. They're a good team. They've got a good defensive line but at the same time, not everybody's superman, so go out and handle business.

Q. Do you pride yourself on your resilience and bouncing back from defeats?

A: Yeah, I think that's part of the quarterback position. Whether it's defeats, interceptions, missed throws, whatever it is, it's always the next play mentality. Then when it comes to games, it's next game mentality.

Q. Where's your confidence level right now?

A: High.

Q. It never waivers, does it?

A: It does not.

Q. What did you make all of the – this stuff with the pizza place? And then you went there and smoothed things over. What made you want to go do that and what did you make of all the confusion that went down?

A: Obviously, there's a million things going on, still is, and some stuff just slipped through the cracks. As soon as I got word – I got word via my telephone, I'm sure some of you did per ESPN. I was like, 'What is this?' Made some calls to my team at the time and got it sorted out and wanted to get over there. I found out – what's today, Wednesday? I found out Monday, said I needed to go there the next day, and went there Tuesday. Went over there, face-to-face conversation, talked to them. Then I did hire a new marketing team to handle all that just so everything can be smoothed over and nothing like that happens again.

Q: I would think there is a perception that – and Sean (Stellato) has become a prominent person – that you fired him, which is not the case, right?

A: That's not the case, no.

Q: Would you just clarify what exactly his role is?

A: Sean is my contract agent, that's what he is. I have a marketing team now to handle all of the other stuff.

Q: What have you learned about popularity and sudden fame and how things have changed in a month, just how out of nowhere you kind of get hit with stuff like this that you didn't even see coming?

A: Everything you do is under a microscope times a hundred, even more now. Anything that happens is going to be in some kind of article somewhere, like how this happened. I'm sure if this happened a month ago, it probably wouldn't or would not have happened how it did, but it did. Got cleaned up but just continue to be yourself though.

Q: A lot more has slipped through the cracks do you think that you would've ever realized being in this position now?

A: Yeah, I would definitely never have hoped for anything like that to slip through the cracks, but that's why I hired more people on a team to be able to handle all that so I can be here and focus on football and what my job is.

Q: Has it been a tough adjustment? Knowing that everything you do now is under the microscope.

A: No. I've always kind of been like that throughout high school, college. I know how it is at the quarterback position no matter what level it is. Obviously, now it's more, but you've got to be yourself and be a good person at all times.

Q: With everything going on around you, have you kind of stressed even more to everyone around you that this is where your priority has to be and whatever else happens, they'll let you know when it's time to do that stuff?

A: Yeah, that's the way it is. I mean I don't handle any talks until everything is finalized with a contract in front of my face and then I sign it. That's the only time I like to know about what things are going on because that's their job to figure out and do all that because I am here doing this. My family knows that, my agents know that, marketing team, everybody knows that. That's part of the reason I live at home as well, so they can handle all that, so I don't have to worry about anything but being here in the building.