Victor Cruz, who emerged from obscurity and developed into one of the NFL’s most dynamic receivers at his peak, announced his retirement.
“As I officially close one chapter of my life and begin another…”, Victor Cruz, “I’m excited to get started and share my insight and analysis with the viewers and fans of the NFL.”
Undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts in 2010, Victor earned a spot on the New York Giants 53-man roster and helped them upset the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
The Giants released Cruz in February 2017 after seven seasons in which he emerged as one of the franchise’s most popular players. His Salsa dancing in the end zone to celebrate touchdowns made him famous, as did his remarkable rise to incredible heights as a Super Bowl champion with the Giants in 2011.
But when Victor is asked what is his most unforgettable moment with the Giants, his thoughts do not go to the Super Bowl, the fame he earned or the countless Salsa dances he did.
Cruz goes back to the moment when as an undrafted long shot from Paterson, New Jersey, left everyone in awe as a rookie in a preseason game against the New York Jets.
“I close my eyes, when I go back: it’s always the first one: preseason game, rookie year, up the sideline, first catch ever, first anything, against the Jets,”, Victor Cruz, “For that one to be a touchdown out of the gate, it was like, my season, my career could have ended right there, and I had already accomplished so much. Being from New Jersey, playing in Giants Stadium, scoring a touchdown like that, in front of my family and my mom, that moment alone takes the cake for me.
Puerto Rican NFL fans everywhere have always been super proud of you, Victor…as they say in the Motherland:
“Se te quiere de gratis, hermano!”
Written by Julio Olmo ~The Voice of One!
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Joe Cardoso & Patrick Waring
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