Fedora Shopping With Sean Stellato, the NFL's Proudest Italian-American Agent
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Last year, the NFL focused its attention on two fan demographics I happen to identify with: Swifies (i.e., women) and Italians. This is why, much to my chagrin and amazement, I can now tell you that Travis Kelce is a βtight endβ and that Sean Stellato is an agent. I know you know who the first person is. The second, Sean Stellato, made headlines in December when one of his clients, Tommy DeVito, a 25-year-old undrafted rookie living at home with his parents in New Jersey, was summoned by the Giants when the teamβs two other quarterbacks got injured.
STAY WITH ME: Miraculously, DeVito led the team to three consecutive wins, one of which was against the formidable Green Bay Packers. It was a nationally televised Monday Night Football game, and when the Giants scored a touchdown, cameras cut to Stellato, who looked like frigginβ Vito Corleone in a black pinstripe suit, gold chain, and fedora. In a moment of pure Mamma Mia bliss, he pinched his fingers like this π€π€π€ and kissed DeVitoβs dad on the cheek.
It was the most quote-unquote Italian-American thing the NFL has seen in a long time, and the internet ate it up like a bowl of momβs spaghetti. Steven Van Zandt, who plays Silvio on the Sopranos, tweeted that Stellato was βthe Silvio of the Family,β meaning the consigliere, or right-hand. With his help, DeVito, who is obviously Italian, landed a deal with Raoβs Homemade Pasta Sauce. Meanwhile, Stellatoβs Internet virality took him straight to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and back to the homeland, where he recently handed a custom Wilson football to none other than il Papa, a.k.a the Pope.
Of course, my first thought when I saw this was: I gotta go shopping with this paisan. I was able to get in touch with Stellato this summer when he was in the Tri-State area visiting the Giantsβ training camp. (Originally from Boston, he currently lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Krista, and their four daughters, Gianna, Giulietta, Sophia Belle, and Siena Sicily.) He graciously offered to meet me at his favorite fedora shop, Bellissimo, which I was surprised to learn is not in Little Italy but in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Founded by brothers Levi and Yossi Chayo in 2017 to cater to members of the neighborhoodβs Orthodox Jewish community, where black fedoras are a staple, the brandβs high-quality yet affordable hats soon attracted the attention of those outside their milieu. One day, in 2019, Jamie Foxx reached out. Now, the storeβs wall of fame also boats photos of Snoop Dogg, Michael BublΓ©, Queen Latifah, Floyd Mayweather, Steve Aoki, Jeremy Piven, and, er, Dave Portnoy, among others. Curiously, Stellato, who wore a black Bellissimo fedora on the night he went viral, has not yet made the display.
βWe gotta get that on there,β Stellato says in a thick Boston accent, walking straight up to the wall on the day we visit. βYeah, thatβs a good one,β Yossi agrees. βI gotta print that one.β Stellato offers to sign his portrait and provide the store with its own Sean Stellato bobblehead, which comes out this fall and features a fedora.
βMy late grandfather wore a fedora, and I always loved Sinatra and Stallone, or Rocky Balboa,β Stellato explains. His grandmother, Littizza Lillian Stellato, who immigrated from Calabria to Boston and lived with his family growing up, worked in the menβs department at Fileneβs Basement until she was 86 and bought him his first suit. βShe used to always say that you have to dress for success and visualize yourself in those moments.βΒ
A former Arena League football player himself, Stellato, who is now 46, started flexing his style muscles on the field as a receiver for Marist College, where he wore frosted tips under his football helmet.Β Eventually, he replaced the frosted tips with a fedora, and the accessory has been a staple of his wardrobe ever since.
So, no, itβs not an act. βFashion is something Iβm passionate about,β he says. Heβs wearing head-to-toe Armani EA7 sportswear, Rhone pants, Versace sunglasses big enough to rival a VR headset, and a Bellissimo straw hat. βItβs how I express myself, and it gives me confidence. Itβs almost like my Superman cape.βΒ
Getting dressed is his version of a pre-game ritual. βItβs a way to get me in the zone,β he continues. βIf you look good, you perform well. My guys take a lot of pride in how they present themselves when they run through the tunnel onto the field, and I feel the same way when I walk into an NFL stadium.β
A little attention also doesnβt hurt in his line of business. βDoes anyone know any other NFL agent?β asks Yossi. βI didnβt know the name of a single one [before Stellato]. It sets him apart from everyone else.β
Stellato often builds an outfit fedora-first, matching every other piece with it βdown to the shoes.β Heβll wear a straw one in the summer and for more casual occasions, but a black felt one can also help elevate a simple black t-shirt and jeans. The fedora he wore when he went viral was Bellissimoβs βToscanaβ styleβbrim down, as alwaysβwith a custom suit from Mohanβs on Madison Avenue. (Stellatoβs bobblehead originally wore a fedora with the brim up, and he asked them to re-design it.)
At this point in our conversation, Stellatoβs phone goes off. His ringtone is some version of βThatβs Amoreβ by Dean Martin. While heβs chatting, Yossi tells me that Bellissimoβs hats are made in Canada, where his brother Levi lives, and in Tuscany at a factory just a few blocks away from Prada. (βYou can hear the CEOβs helicopter go back and forth for lunch,β he claims.) Theyβre made the old-school way, out of rabbit felt as opposed to βcheap wool.β Stellato designed his own custom version this summer featuring two different colors.
Weβre at Bellissimo that day, though, because Stellatoβs dog, Capri, chewed up one of his hats, and heβs in the market for a new one. He tries on a Toscana in midnight blue and goes back and forth about the size of the brim, ultimately going with the larger one. β[The Chayo brothers] have really held my hand and educated me, almost like a coach, which has been great through the entire process of upping my hat game,β he says.
When Stellato looks in the mirror, heβs instantly in agent mode. βOh yeah, Iβm ready to negotiate,β he says. Before we leave, he makes Yossi a pitch: Jamie Foxx has his own custom hat called βThe Foxx.β Why not make one called βThe Agent?β Yossi nods approvingly. βI like that a lot,β he says. Deal. Bada bing.
π΅βπ« I am both amazed and startled by this man
"Stellatoβs phone goes off. His ringtone is some version of βThatβs Amoreβ by Dean Martin." This commitment is unparalleled.