The mention of Tom Brady and Tommy DeVito in the same breath will get Brian Daboll to pump the brakes faster than a driver who sees a deer.
The day after the undrafted rookie DeVito engineered a fourth-quarter comeback to lead the Giants to a 24-22 victory against the Packers on “Monday Night Football” and keep faint playoff hopes alive, the Giants head coach wasn’t about to stroll 23 years down memory lane to when he was an assistant coach for the Patriots and an unknown Brady jumped in for the injured Drew Bledsoe.
Twelve seconds into a question about Brady coming out of nowhere, Daboll interjected.
“Yeah, we’re four games in,” Daboll said. “I do appreciate the question.”
When the reporter finished the question by asking when teammates began believing in Brady, Daboll racked his brain.
“That’s a long time ago,” Daboll said. “I’d just say every situation is different. I couldn’t probably give you the answer that you are looking for. I couldn’t give you a tangible story or anything like that. It was a different time, different players, different team, but obviously [Brady’s rise] is well-documented.”
Brady’s legend was born when he led the Patriots to the Super as a first-year starter. DeVito has won three straight starts to get the Giants to a 5-8 record.
“We’re just trying to make a first down, execute in the red zone right now,” Daboll said, “and do a good job with our responsibilities with where we’re at.”
One point where Daboll and DeVito have connected is on performing in front of your hometown.
Daboll, a Buffalo native who was raised by his grandparents, returned home as the Bills offensive coordinator from 2018-22 – before he was hired by the Giants – when he was already deep into his coaching career.
“I’ll keep those conversations private,” Daboll said. “It’s a little bit different because a lot of your family are around. They kind of live it with you, as compared to [when] you are working somewhere else and maybe they are not right in the boat with you. There’s a lot of things going on for you and you have to do a really good job of keeping the main thing the main thing.”
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