Cruz Still Trying To Soak In His “Surreal” Performance
If there was ever a kid you wanted to root for, it’s Giants’ rookie WR Victor Cruz. Yesterday, in Albany, he spoke with reporters and humbler young man, you’ll never meet.
“It’s good to see your hard work paying off ” said Cruz when told that head coach Tom Coughlin was gushing about him after the game. “It’s surreal. I’m still trying to soak it all in.”
Cruz’ 6-catch, 145-yard, 3 TD coming out party on Monday Night Football vs the Jets has made him and instant star, although he’ll downplay that angle for now. The whole world saw what this undrafted walk-on could do on a football field and they haven’t stop talking about him since.
“Lebron James tweeted about me.” said Cruz,”That’s one of the highlights of my life”. Cruz said he had about 180 text messages and his Twitter account was “through the roof.” He said he got back to about 90% of his well-wishers.
The local product from Paterson, by way of UMass, had a about two dozen friends and family members in the stands on Monday, including his mother, Blanca, who Cruz said was “crying her eyes out after the game” with joy.
He’s no longer a secret, and the Giants will have to part ways with a veteran to make room for him, because they would have to be crazy to cut him.
Even though Cruz scored on two fade routes and another quick slant in the end zone (basic routes), he still showed tremendous prowess in beating the defense to the ball. The 31 other NFL teams will be waiting to see what the Giants do with him.
Sorry, everyone. Coughlin will not be cutting Cruz. If anything, he might be pushing him up on the depth chart. Cruz appears to be able to do what several other of the Giants young receivers cannot – make something out of nothing. His concentration, good hands, toughness and route-running skills could elevate him past such high draft picks such as Ramses Barden and Mario Manningham for playing time.
It’s time for the Giants to realize they may have a real find, here. GM Jerry Reese may finally have to concede that a walk-on has outplayed some of his coveted draftees.
Cruz will have to learn to be a bit more selfish in the future, though. He failed to procure any of the three balls he caught for TDs as mementos.
“Every time I scored a TD, I’d come to the sidelines and David Diehl goes ‘Did you keep the ball?’ and I’m like, ‘no’. Then I’d look for it and it’s gone.”
Sounds a lot like the defenders who try to cover him.
