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Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito and the owner of a New Jersey pizzeria who was steaming over an autograph signing gone terribly wrong broke bread — and a whole lot more — Tuesday afternoon.
Over a meal of pizzas, chicken parm and sodas mixed from an antique machine, DeVito, members of his new marketing team and Nino Coniglio — owner of Coniglio’s Old Fashioned in Morristown — agreed to a charitable solution that mends most fences in a viral feud, as witnessed by The Post.
Coniglio originally advertised a Tuesday appearance by DeVito at his restaurant but cancelled after he said DeVito’s agent, Sean Stellato, doubled the allegedly previously agreed-upon appearance fee for two hours and 250 autographs from $10,000 to $20,000 in response to the quarterback’s shining moment when the Giants beat the Packers.
Stellato was noticeably absent from Tuesday’s sit-down and it later became clear that he has been replaced as DeVito’s marketing representative.
DeVito, who held Nino and wife Shealyn’s 11-month-old daughter Penny, will return to the pizzeria at a to-be-determined January date to work 30 minutes behind the counter and sign 100 autographs, marketing rep Maxx Lepselter said.
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Coniglio’s will make 100 sandwiches and donate 100 percent of the proceeds from sales during that time to charity, Coniglio said.
“It was really important to me,” DeVito told The Post. “There was a lot going at that time — and a lot of people doing different things as part of my team. Some things slipped through the cracks and as soon as I was made aware of it — which was Monday, when it hit my phone — that’s when I was like, ‘We need to go in there, meet him face to face, set things right, eat the awesome pizza and have fun.”
As he waited for DeVito, Coniglio said he wanted to “believe” in the DeVito that has been portrayed and it “would break my heart” if that wasn’t the case.
He felt “sorry for the bad press” that DeVito was getting as a result of the cancelled appearance.
Coniglio’s faith was restored within an hour.
“Tommy is a stand-up guy,” he told The Post. “He apologized, and this will be a great thing for charity. Amends were made with him. I support Tommy.”
Stellato, the fedora- and flashy-suit-wearing NFL agent whose profile skyrocketed over the last two weeks simultaneously to DeVito’s, accompanied DeVito and others to an appearance at Bubbakoo’s Burritos in Livingston earlier in the day.
It was his intent to go to the pizzeria to apologize but Coniglio made it clear through other parties that Stellato was not welcome.
“It was a complete misunderstanding,” Stellato told The Post, adding that he thought negotiations still were ongoing without a formalized contract.
“Our intent is Tommy adores his fans, the community, the Giants organization. I feel the same way about my clients. I would never do anything unethically. … We’ll make this right. I’m not in this to get into arguments with people.”
Coniglio wasn’t interested in Stellato coming to the restaurant because he felt “ambushed” by overtures made on Stellato’s behalf that did not come directly from him.
“There’s no apology,” Coniglio said, “because until it didn’t go his way, he wasn’t interested in apologies or calling back.”
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