Long Island kids interview Giant's Victor Cruz
Kidsday reporters Jack McLaughlin, Christopher Fuentes, Bergman Eguez, Marlyn Santos and Byron Guzman, from Central Islip and Manhasset, with NY Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz after his commercial shoot in Sands Point. (June 20, 2013) Credit: Newsday Photo / Pat Mullooly
We interviewed Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz in Sands Point recently. He was there filming a commercial for Kids Foot Locker.
Was there anything that stopped you from being an NFL player?
Just myself. Going through school I had some troubles, I was going up and down in grades and stuff like that. So it was just myself. I always knew I had the talent, I always knew that with the right thing in place, with the right people in my life I would make it to what I wanted to be. But I just had to get out of my own way kind of thing first. So it was a battle, but we got through it.
We read that you grew up in a tough place in Paterson, N.J. How did you stay out of trouble?
My mom. She kept me out of trouble. She would put me in all kinds of sports, all kinds of activities, all kinds of things that kept me occupied after school and on the weekends. So I didn't have time to go out and hang out on the streets. I would be with my teammates and stuff like that. My mom did a good job keeping me out of trouble.
What do you love about football?
I love the camaraderie just being around my teammates and there's a lot of guys that I went from seeing guys on TV and admiring them on TV. All these guys, and then you being in the same locker room with them, you realize they are just like you, they're normal people. They're friends and they like to hang out and tell jokes and know they're normal just like you.
Who are some of the people who inspired you growing up?
Some of the people that inspired me were my dad, a couple of my coaches. My dad was the biggest inspiration to me. He just taught be how to be a man, how to treat everybody with respect and he told me just how to approach the game of football like a business later on in life. He knew early on that I was going on this path.
What was the most important thing you did to help achieve life's goals?
It was to get focused in school. I was going up and down in my grades and going back and forth, getting kicked out of school, but the best thing I did to achieve my goals was stay focused. That focus helped me get through college and into the NFL. I just carried it over. I wanted to be on the field. I didn't just want to be another guy that just played for a couple of years and then left and you never hear about him again. So I was excited about the opportunity.
What awards in high school did you receive for sports? Did you break any records?
I did. I got almost every award in high school because I played football, basketball, I ran track. I did all kinds of things. I got Most Likely to Succeed in Sports awards. I got all those awards. In high school I broke the record for most touchdowns in the first half of a football game with five. And my coach took me out after that, which I was pretty mad. I was trying to go for 8 or 10. I think I finished my senior year with 20 touchdowns, which was a lot back then.
Who is the fastest runner on the Giants right now?
I'd have to say David Wilson. He's pretty fast and he's explosive, too. So he has a little bit of everything in his game.
At what age did you start playing football?
I started playing football around the age of 10. When I first got out there, my dad had me in all kinds of gear and double pads and I was like a cardboard box trying to play football, but once he took the pads off me and started to trust me a little bit more, once I understood the game, he let me go a little bit. It was fun getting hit, and hitting other people was good, too. It was fun.
How do your professional awards as a Giant compare to the awards you received in high school?
Oh, man, that's a good question. I think the Giants' one kind of just overlaps them because as a kid you dream about playing in the NFL. You dream about playing catch and passes from Eli Manning or Payton Manning, Shaun Rogers. Any of the great quarterbacks. You dream about this stuff, but to do it was amazing. And to do it and break records and win a Super Bowl and have a ring and hold up the Lombardi Trophy and to do all of that, it was just unreal. I definitely think the trophies and the awards that I've gotten in the NFL definitely supersede them.
Do you have any goals that you haven't achieved yet or that you are still working on?
Yeah, I'm trying to go a whole season without dropping a pass and winning more Super Bowls, of course. But as a personal goal I want to go a whole season without dropping a pass and staying extremely focused week in and week out and seeing how it goes from there.
What are your most memorable touchdowns?
I've made 19 touchdowns as a New York Giant and my most memorable one was the 99-yarder against the Jets ... And No. 2 would have to be the Seattle Seahawks one. I think it was a 72-yarder where I tipped it up in the air and caught it because I still kind of, to this day, don't know how I kept my eye on the ball and how I did that. But those two touchdowns definitely are top two and all of them are great. Any time you get in the end zone and you get to celebrate is always a good one.
Who taught you how to dance the salsa?
My grandmother taught me how to dance the salsa . . . when I was young. She was always dancing, the life of the party, always picking me up, taking me off the couch and telling me how to dance, showing me how to dance, dancing in general. Could be 5 o'clock on a Monday, she had the music on and she was dancing. So it was always in my blood.
What one word would you say describes your career?
Good question. Has to be -- I'll give you two words. One is inspirational, and two is lucky, because if there wasn't a little bit of luck involved throughout my life and throughout my career, I probably wouldn't be here in front of you today.
What's the best part about being a Giant?
The fans. The fans from your age to older fans as they love football. They love the Giants, they love cheering us on, they love us when we're doing well and it's just great. It's a great city to play in, it's a great team to play for and I enjoy every minute of it.
What made you choose the position wide receiver?
In high school I knew the best place to score touchdowns was to be a wide receiver. I could have been a running back, but I didn't want to take the hits. There was a lot of hits going on, a lot of pounding and I felt like I was faster and I had good hands. So I wanted to catch the ball and I wanted to score touchdowns and I want to catch long bombs. So as a kid I always wanted to be a receiver, but then my game just translated as I got older. I just stuck to receiver and I started to catch the ball better. My game started to grow as I went up.
Do you get nervous before a game?
I do. I always get the butterflies before games, but once the ball's kicked off, I'm good to go and I'm ready to play and Eli's [Manning] giving me that face that I better not be nervous. So I got to go out there and play.
What advice do you have for kids who want to become an amazing NFL player like you?
Just stay focused. There's a lot of things. There are going to be bumps in the road, there are going to be people that try to tell you that you can't do something, or try to pull you back or try to take you with them in the wrong direction. Understand what you want to do, understand what goals you set for yourself and achieve them. I think you can be able to do anything and not just become an NFL player, but whether you want to become a banker, businessman, an entrepreneur or whatever you want to do, just know you have to stay focused to achieve your goals.
How do you get ready for a game?
I have a routine. I come in, I get in the hot tub for a little while, get my muscles warm, and then I get my ankles taped, I listen to music, I listen to Lil Wayne, Jay Z, all these different artists that get me going before a game. Then a couple of hours before the game I go warm up with Eli and then we kind of go from there.
