Giants TE Thomas Fidone II Represents a Special Kind of Toughness

One look at New York Giant tight end Thomas Fidone, and you just know he’s a tough hombre.

Just look at his legs and his arms, all of which are covered in tattoos. And while it takes a special kind of toughness to ensure the constant repetition of a tattoo artist’s needle consistently piercing the skin on some of the more intricate designs, it really takes a tough person to do the artistry on his own body.

“It was hard just because it hurts doing it to yourself,” Fidone told reporters following the Giants’ second and final rookie minicamp practice. 

“You can't tell the artist no, but you have control when you're doing it. So being able to get through it, I guess.”

Tattoos aside, Fidone also had to deal with two ACL injuries, both over a year apart and to the same knee.

“It was difficult, but I've always said this from college, and I wouldn't take them back,” he said. “I think that they've made me who I am mentally and physically, and it made me train harder in terms of just physically and getting back better than I was before. So that's always the goal I had when it came to getting back from the injuries.”

Fidone also credits his family and friends for their support, which helped him stay on track in his rehab and not lose sight of his dream of one day playing in the NFL.

“I have a very close, tight family with a lot of support and good friends, good friend group, but I knew I made it through the first one, came back strong, fast and explosive, so I knew I could do the second one even better,” he said. 

Now that he’s in the NFL, the 6-foot-5, 243-pound former Nebraska tight end hopes to do a slightly different form of tattooing, specifically leaving a mark on opposing defensive players trying to get past him and into the backfield.

The injuries admittedly deprived him of game reps and the ability to continue working on his overall strength to hold up in line against defensive ends. Still, Fidone has enough of a solid foundation as a blocker and as a pass catcher, which he credits to Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule.

“When (Rhule) came to Nebraska, he'd brought a lot of very similar things in terms of just the formations and how they family things up and stuff like that,” Fidone said. 

"So just being able to compartmentalize a lot of things with Rhule’s offense has helped definitely with this (Giants’) one.”

Being able to string together back-to-back college seasons in which he appeared in 25 games certainly helped build Fidone’s growing confidence. It has allowed Fidoe to reacquaint himself with the speed of the game, which will intensify at the NFL level. 

“Just mentally being able to play the game fast when you go to college, it feels like every level before that was pointless,” he said. 

“Just in terms of the speed of the game and the verbiage and just how fast everything has to be and how fast you have to process things. It's a bang, bang game. 

“It has to be quick, and everything has to process through your mind quick. So yeah, definitely feel at where I should be with four years of experience and then coming in here, obviously I have to adapt and learn all over again and learn from the older guys.” 

Fidone, who has Theo Johnson, Daniel Bellinger, Chris Manhertz, and Greg Dulcich ahead of him on the depth chart, said he can draw a lesson from his dabble as a tattoo artist: the art of patience.  

“You don't want to rush things. If you rush a tattoo, it won't be what you want it to be,” he said. “But if you take your time and do it well, you'll get what you want. So just be able to have patience, take your time, and let it fall into place.” 

JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Follow and like us on Facebook and Instagram. Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel. And if you want to send a letter to our mailbag, you can do so here.

More New York Giants Coverage