He played college football at UMass, and signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He was signed by the Indianapolis IronPigs via the Cerulean Dynasty League Start-Up Auction on March 4, 2013. [2] He completed a post-graduate semester at Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, Maine. He was praised and highlighted by critics for his performance throughout the preseason. On the next play, Eli Manning threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks. Jack Pinto" and the other "Jack Pinto My Hero." victor Cruz Salsa New York Daily News January 2012, List of Denver Broncos starting quarterbacks, List of Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterbacks. Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text, Players of American football from New Jersey, Puerto Rican players of American football, Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey, shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, https://web.archive.org/web/20140926031659/http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/giants-receiver-victor-cruz-will-never-forget-his-late-father-1.3497341, "Paterson's Victor Cruz gets a chance with the Giants", http://www.northjersey.com/sports/042610_Patersons_Victor_Cruz_gets_a_chance_with_the_Giants.html, "Hackensack expected to name Benjie Wimberly", "UMass receiver Victor Cruz now runs the right patterns academically, just as well as on the field", http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/09/umass_receiver_victor_cruz_now.html, "Super Bowl 2012: The evolution of New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz", http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/02/04/super-bowl-2012-the-evolution-of-victor-cruz/, "Video: Undrafted rookie steals MNF show with one-handed catch", https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Undrafted-Giants-rookie-steals-the-show-gets-at?urn=nfl-263003, "New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals - October 2nd, 2011", https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201110020crd.htm, "Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants - October 9th, 2011", https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201110090nyg.htm, "New York Giants at New York Jets - December 24th, 2011", https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201112240nyj.htm, "Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants - January 1st, 2012", https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201201010nyg.htm, http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/giants/post/_/id/10531/jpp-makes-ap-first-team-cruz-second-team, "NFC Championship - New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers - January 22nd, 2012", https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201201220sfo.htm, "Super Bowl XLVI - New York Giants vs. New England Patriots - February 5th, 2012", https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201202050nwe.htm, "Victor Cruz of New York Giants says salsa dance imitation would be an insult - ESPN New York", http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/8487589/victor-cruz-new-york-giants-says-salsa-dance-imitation-insult, "Victor Cruz won’t dance with the stars; it’s all for the Giants", https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/victor-cruz-won-t-dance-stars-giants-151953544.html, "Victor Cruz signs his one-year, $2.879M tender with the NY giants, according to sources", http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/source-cruz-sign-one-year-tender-giants-article-1.1372731, "Victor Cruz, New York Giants agree to $45.879M deal", http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000216712/article/victor-cruz-new-york-giants-agree-to-45879m-deal, "New York Giants’ Victor Cruz Suffers Heel Bruise; Tom Coughlin Expresses Concern", http://www.sportsmedia101.com/newyorkgiants/2013/08/19/new-york-giants-victor-cruz-suffers-heel-bruise-tom-coughlin-expresses-concern/, "NY Giants WR Victor Cruz can recover from knee injury, but will likely never be the same, doctor says", http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/victor-cruz-recover-knee-injury-doctor-article-1.1973081, https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CruzVi00/gamelog/2014/, "Victor Cruz to have season-ending surgery on calf", http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14144236/new-york-giants-wr-victor-cruz-season-ending-surgery, "Victor Cruz announces his season is over", https://nypost.com/2015/11/16/victor-cruz-announces-his-season-is-over/, http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Giants-sign-WR-Hakeem-Nicks/8e3dc316-f3b2-4fbc-9fe4-9740b6a2273c, "Giants' Victor Cruz serves as star in his first game in 700 days", http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-giants/post/_/id/48096/victor-cruz-serves-as-the-hero-for-the-giants-in-his-first-game-in-700-days, http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/17/nfl-fines-victor-cruz-odell-beckham-for-td-dance/, "New York Giants release wide receiver Victor Cruz", http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000785509/article/new-york-giants-release-wide-receiver-victor-cruz, "Giants part ways with WR Victor Cruz, RB Rashad Jennings", http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Giants-part-ways-with-WR-Victor-Cruz-RB-Rashad-Jennings/80a5c4e3-6b8f-4dd6-a440-4dd5ec103278, http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1/Bears-agree-to-terms-with-Victor-Cruz/d7bc4d84-c6f8-4193-9735-aed2d849cb2c, http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000838661/article/victor-cruz-released-by-chicago-bears, "Victor Cruz retires from NFL, joining ESPN as analyst", http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24435166/former-new-york-giants-wr-victor-cruz-retires-joins-espn, "Is Victor Cruz Planning to Propose to Girlfriend Karrueche Tran? [2][6] He scored 11 touchdowns in his career and had just under 2,000 receiving yards. Victor Michael Cruz (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver.
[13], Cruz has been popularly known for celebrating nearly every touchdown with a salsa dance. In Week 17, in a do-or-die game against the Dallas Cowboys for the final playoff slot in the NFC, Cruz had six receptions for 178 yards, including the game's first score with a 74-yard touchdown catch, as well as a fourth quarter, 44-yard catch on third and seven that put the Giants in position to make a field goal that put the Giants up by two scores. [11], Against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, Cruz had 10 catches for 142 yards—all in the first half—as the Giants edged the 49ers, 20-17, in overtime to advance to Super Bowl XLVI. [19], On October 12, 2014, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Cruz suffered a torn patellar tendon, prematurely ending his 2014 season. He played college football for the University of Massachusetts. He is currently in a relationship with actress Karrueche Tran. The Giants added another touchdown, a 4-yard pass from Eli Manning to Hakeem Nicks, setting a record of 15 fourth quarter touchdown passes in one season for Eli Manning and beat the Cowboys 31-14.
Cruz's father committed suicide in 2007.[1]. He has stated that it was in honor of his deceased grandmother who taught him how to dance salsa and loved touchdown dances. Cerulean Dynasty League Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. He played in three games at the start of the season, before a hamstring injury placed him on injured reserve for the remainder of the year.
[10] Cruz was praised for terrific route running and decimating the Cowboys defense.