At Natoli’s Italian Deli in Secaucus, N.J., in the shadow of MetLife Stadium, one can now order the Tommy DeVito hero — chicken parm a la vodka — just like the breakout Giants quarterback likes it.

In the past month, Mr. DeVito, raised across the Hackensack River in Cedar Grove, has rocketed from third-string obscurity to star on the often-dismal New York Giants, keeping their long-shot playoff chances alive and becoming an icon of the greater Meadowlands metro area.

Mr. DeVito, 25, grew up loving the Giants and his mother’s chicken sandwiches and watching his father, a plumber, fix boilers. Now he is known as “Tommy Cutlets,” a nickname he scribbled on fans’ white tank tops during an event at Primo Hoagies in nearby Wayne. He posed for selfies pursing his fingers Italian-style in his signature touchdown celebration.

A hometown N.F.L. hero might seem like an anomaly in an era of free agents, multimillion-dollar contracts and teams without local roots. But when Mr. DeVito materialized in the Meadowlands, he drove home the truth that a “New York” team has actually played in one state over for nearly half a century. That state is now staking an ownership claim.

Tommy Cutlets has become the toast — or maybe the bruschetta — of the towns that lie in the shadow of MetLife Stadium.