You make the call! Eli to Cruz began here
Eli Manning talks to Victor Cruz about the pattern he ran during practice at the Timex Performance Center. (Aug. 10, 2011) Credit: Joe Epstein
Victor Cruz remembers the day last spring when he looked at his cellphone and couldn't believe who was calling him.
"I was like, 'Eli Manning? Is this working?' " he said. "It was cool to see his name pop up on my phone and for me to go there and run some routes with him and pick his brain a little bit."
He spoke Thursday just off the practice field where he had spent the afternoon preparing to play in the Super Bowl as one of the Giants' main offensive weapons. What he was talking about was a time during the lockout when Manning invited him to Hoboken High School to run some routes and work on timing.
It's almost hard to believe that what began with Manning and a few other players in a loosely organized workout on a New Jersey high school field -- complete with onlooking phys ed students and a few dozen curious passersby -- will end on the biggest single sports stage in the world: the Super Bowl.
The Giants have gone from Hoboken to Indianapolis. With a few stops in between.
"It was productive," Manning said. "I'm not trying to say that was the reason we've reached the Super Bowl, but I definitely think we got some work done . . . I'd like to think that work paid off and we got better. We got to talk over some things and decisions. I'd like to think that the work that we did during that time helped guys have a better understanding of our offense."
Most of the players who participated in those workouts did not play much of a role for the Giants. But there were a few who stuck. Such as Dan DePlama, who landed on the practice squad and whose role this week is to play Wes Welker on the scout team. And Cruz.
"One of the guys who was probably at every one of those was Victor Cruz, a guy who did a lot of spot work and making decisions and reads and just talking through things," Manning said. "Obviously, he's a guy who's had a great season."
At the time, Cruz was a second-year player who missed most of his first season because of injury and wasn't even sure he'd make the team.
"It was a tough time, but I was just focused on the moment," he said. "I understood that if I go in there and just throw with Eli and kind of build his trust a little bit and understand what the routes were, understand where he likes to put the ball, I think I'd have a great shot coming in because we'd have already built a little bit of a rapport in the offseason."
It turned into the greatest statistical season any Giants quarterback and receiver have ever had. It was the first time that Manning showed some faith in Cruz, a relationship that grew throughout the season.
"You never know who Eli is going to call up," Cruz said of being one of the players invited to Hoboken. "It was huge for me for my confidence just to have him call my phone."
And maybe one of the biggest calls of the season for the Giants.
