As New York Giants quarterback Tommy Devito rose to fame in the NFL over the last month, a wave of appreciation for Italian American culture took over the country.

From the widespread adoration of Devito’s “pinched fingers” gesture during a touchdown celebration, long associated with Italian American culture, to the appreciation for his mother’s Italian cuisine and homemade chicken cutlets, Devito led a renaissance of Italian American pride. Devito-mania had overtaken the NFL, specifically the New York metropolitan area.

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Devito’s success is a true underdog story. He was the local kid who grew up in a neighborhood near the Giants stadium. He went undrafted, and now, after injuries to the team’s other two quarterbacks, he was the team’s starter. Devito provided a spark in an otherwise dreary and disappointing season for Giants fans, leading the team to three wins. All of it was good, clean, heart-warming fun that was destined to be the plot for a future Disney movie. So naturally, the NFL and New York Giants started pushing negative Italian American stereotypes to celebrate Devito.

With Devito’s increased popularity, the team started playing the theme song for the mafia-inspired show, The Sopranos, as his entrance song. It was supposed to be a benevolent nod to his ethnicity — because nothing says Italian American pride like a show about murder, organized crime, drug use, infidelity, and corruption. In reality, it’s a despicable stereotype that Italian Americans have had to deal with for over a century, and the NFL just played right into it without giving it a second thought.

This was followed by many other sports talk shows, radio programs, pundits, and other hacks repeatedly referring to the mafia, mobsters, and other cultural references of organized crime that disparage Italians when discussing Devito. It was utterly disgraceful and caught the eye of the National Italian American Foundation president, Robert Allegrini.

“All Italian Americans should be happy for the success of Tommy DeVito and proud that he emphasizes his Italian heritage,” Allegrini told me. “The accompanying references to the Godfather, Sopranos and Jersey Shore are irritating cliches that Italian Americans have come to expect but have learned to rise above through confidence in the greatness of their culture which lies at the very heart of Western civilization.”

Consider the magnitude of the impact Italians have had on civilization. Italians ushered in the Renaissance which marked humanity’s transition from the barbaric Middle Ages to a more civilized and sophisticated era of modernity. There were the contributions of Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo, who paved the way for scientific discoveries that helped shape humanity. Great Italian explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci forever changed the course of Western civilization with their discoveries of the western hemisphere and American continent.

Furthermore, Italians also were the inspiration for this country’s form of governance. The Founding Fathers conceived the nation’s government after the Roman model of a republic. Italians are undoubtedly part of this country’s roots and known for much more than just the mafia, all of which could have been alluded to when discussing Devito. Instead, everyone chose the mafia reference.

“This is not to excuse that such references manifest a certain cultural laziness, if not outright ignorance on behalf of the sports journalists who espouse them. For example, I saw one media quote that said, ‘Italian pride has never been higher in NY & NJ since the final season of the Sopranos.’ Really?” Allegrini said. “If the author knew any history, it would have been far more appropriate and much less offensive to write ‘Italian pride has never been higher since football’s highest award was named the Lombardi Trophy in honor of Italian American Vince Lombardi.’”

Allegrini raises an excellent point. In addition to their numerous and significant contributions to human civilization mentioned above, Italian Americans have also helped shape the legacy of the NFL. In addition to the aforementioned Lombardi, two of football’s greatest players, both of whom incidentally played the same position as Devito, quarterback Dan Marino and Joe Montana, are Italian. Bill Parcells, the former legendary coach of the New York Giants, was also Italian. All three are in the NFL Hall of Fame. None of them were in the mafia.

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Moreover, especially with the obsequiousness with which the NFL preaches about diversity and tolerance, it should know better than to reinforce negative Italian stereotypes when it comes to DeVito. No other football player would have their ethnicity glorified with constant references to something negative like murder and other facets of organized crime. Only Italian Americans are burdened with such tropes.

“These journalists need to learn more history and less Hollywood while demonstrating the same cultural sensitivity toward Italian Americans that they would to every other ethnic group in 2023,” Allegrini said.