Ex-Giant Victor Cruz retires from NFL, joins ESPN as an analyst
Victor Cruz, whose fairy tale NFL career and meteoric rise to fame made him one of the most popular Giants players of this century, officially announced his retirement as a player on Tuesday. He also announced his newest job as an NFL analyst for ESPN.
Cruz, 31, who last played in an NFL game in 2016, announced his retirement in a video on the website Uninterrupted. He was released by the Giants after that season and signed with the Bears but was cut before the start of the 2017 season.
“My journey hasn’t been the easiest,” Cruz said in the video. “It definitely had its ups and downs, and some rough patches. This last chapter of my life was a great one.”
A native of Paterson, New Jersey, and a product of UMass, Cruz signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2010 and burst on the scene in a preseason game against the Jets in which he scored three touchdowns. He spent most of that 2010 season on injured reserve and began 2011 slowly with a dropped pass and a demotion from the team’s rotation. But in the third game of the season he caught a pair of touchdown passes against the Eagles, punctuated them with a salsa dance that would become his trademark, and his career took off. That season ended with him scoring a touchdown in Super Bowl XLVI and holding the Lombardi Trophy.
“What a great Giant,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “I remember playing against him when I was in Philly and we were certainly well aware of the impact he could have on a ballgame.”
Cruz produced 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2011 and 2012. He appeared in 70 games with 53 starts, totaling 303 catches for 4,549 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2012.
“A guy who kind of exploded onto the scene in this preseason game versus the Jets coming up in 2010,” Eli Manning said. “Really just had a great feel for the offense, for his routes in that slot, and he was tough to cover. Running down the field, breaking in, we gave him a lot of options. He mastered some of those concepts and gave him a great opportunity to get open and make big plays for us. Tremendous player, and a great guy.”
Injuries halted Cruz’s career. A torn patellar tendon caused him to miss most of the 2014 season and then a calf injury sidelined him for the entire 2015 campaign. In 2016, his final season, he had just 39 catches for 586 yards and a touchdown.
His initial separation from the Giants was strained. He was part of a contingent of Giants wide receivers who partied on a yacht in Miami the week before a playoff loss to the Packers, a trip that many blamed for the team’s poor offensive performance in the game. He also suggested in a radio interview that he’d been sabotaged by the team in his final season so they could release him without more backlash from fans than they received.
The two sides patched things up, though. On Tuesday, the Giants tweeted him congratulations on his retirement with the hashtag: #OnceAGiantAlwaysAGiant.
According to an ESPN press release, Cruz will serve an an NFL analyst in his new position and contribute to various shows and platforms year-round, including NFL Live and SportsCenter.
“Victor is passionate about the NFL, and we’ve long been impressed with his ability to connect and engage with fans,” ESPN producer Seth Markman said in the release. “He has a deep knowledge of the game and experience playing at the highest levels, so we expect him to be an impactful voice.”
Manning joked that Cruz has “gone to the dark side” by joining the media. Asked if he is prepared for Cruz to be critical of him, Manning smiled.
“I think he’ll be all right to me,” Manning said. “I hope.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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