When Tommy DeVito became the starting QB with the Giants, I was rooting for him. Not just as a fellow New Jerseyan, but as a fellow American of Italian descent. He was doing well and injected a sense of local pride as well as some much needed excitement into the local fan base.

The media loved his live-at-home-chicken-cutlet persona. To those of us in the community, this was nothing new. We have loyalty to our families. We have an incredibly strong work ethic. We do our best to stay humble. We are loud. We have a good time. They made it the mainstay of their coverage. Then came the national coverage. The parody videos. Trying to explain hand gestures.