Former New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz stopped by Radio Row at the Super Bowl to chat.
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00:00 Ladies and gentlemen, you know the smile, you know the salsa.
00:04 I got my dog to my left, I got Victor Cruz.
00:07 Are we live? This is happening right now?
00:09 We're walking right into it.
00:10 Oh, we're right into it. Okay.
00:11 I'm ready, I'm ready. What's up, my guy?
00:13 Vic.
00:13 Yeah.
00:14 Super Bowl.
00:15 Mm-hmm.
00:16 You played in one of them things.
00:17 I did.
00:18 You salsa'd in one of them things.
00:19 I did, I did.
00:20 What type of routine did you have the night before the Super Bowl?
00:26 Could you sleep?
00:27 Was it the same as a regular season game?
00:29 Was it the same as an NFC Championship talk?
00:31 It was different, dog.
00:33 The Super Bowl was different.
00:34 Even the NFC Championship game was different.
00:37 It's the same kind of attention to detail, but it's still in your weekly regimen, right?
00:42 You still, same preparation.
00:44 You understand the game means a little bit more, but it's the same preparation.
00:47 Super Bowl, you get two weeks.
00:49 You got the family.
00:50 You got the friends chiming in on you.
00:52 They want to come out.
00:53 They want to support.
00:54 You got to figure out how to do all of that early, get it out the way, let moms do it.
00:58 So that you can lock in and focus.
01:00 And then fast forward to the night before the game or the Super Bowl, I couldn't sleep, bro.
01:04 I got the TV on.
01:05 I got the jitters.
01:07 I'm trying to rest.
01:08 I'm thinking about all the greats that are going to be there the next day.
01:11 I'm thinking about, I can't let them down.
01:14 LT looking at me in pregame with the nod like, it's up now.
01:18 This is us.
01:19 And I'm like, I got you.
01:21 And you just understand that this is bigger than any game you've ever played in.
01:25 This is bigger than any moment.
01:27 You grow up as a kid playing on that one-way street.
01:30 And you're in the Super Bowl when you're a kid.
01:33 And you make the big pass.
01:34 And you win it.
01:35 You know what I'm saying?
01:36 So to do that and it actually come to life, bro, was just a different sentiment.
01:40 It's a different emotion.
01:42 The UMass Victor Cruz.
01:45 Did he ever believe?
01:48 We have the dream.
01:49 Of course.
01:50 But did you ever really be like, I was going to play in the Super Bowl?
01:54 The way and be a factor the way that I did it.
01:58 Not even close.
01:59 I mean, you always know that you're going to have a chance, right?
02:02 You're a realist about who you are.
02:04 You're like, look, I'm a UMass kid, Division I AA.
02:08 I'm going to have to work my tail off.
02:09 But I'm going to have an opportunity to some degree, no matter what that looks like,
02:12 to have a chance.
02:14 Now, as the opportunity started to get bigger and the moment started to get bigger,
02:18 I'm like, oh, this is happening.
02:21 As the weeks went on and I'm scoring touchdowns and being an advocate for my team.
02:25 And you know how it is, you're in the meeting room like, oh, they dialing these up for me.
02:29 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:30 Oh, okay.
02:31 Oh, this is going down this week.
02:34 And it's week after week of that.
02:36 And I'm like, okay, this is my moment.
02:38 I have to just make sure I'm ready when my number is called each and every time.
02:41 And I got a Hall of Famer throwing me this football that I can't let him down.
02:45 Screw the coaches.
02:46 All of that's cool.
02:47 But I'm in the trenches with him.
02:49 And I got to make sure that I'm ready each and every time he throws the ball in my direction,
02:54 that I can A, catch the ball and do the best of my ability to do the best I can once I catch the ball for him.
03:00 Now, do you think Brock Purdy holds that same exact sentiment?
03:05 He better.
03:06 He better because he has the opportunity to, like, slay the dragon, so to speak, right?
03:11 To be the Eli to Tom Brady type of thing.
03:15 The King Arthur.
03:16 Exactly, exactly.
03:17 You know, so we'll see if he can do it.
03:19 But the mindset has to be there.
03:22 And I think if there's ever a team that he's been a part of that has the tools to do it, I mean, it's the 49ers.
03:28 They got weapons all over the place.
03:29 They got the type of offense that can do anything that he's obviously shown that he's very comfortable in.
03:35 And he can do things with his legs.
03:37 Obviously, when the plays break down, that he can do things with his legs.
03:40 So he has all the tools to do it.
03:42 Now, to actually go out there and do it is the hard part.
03:45 But we're going to see if he can.
03:46 Who's your prediction?
03:47 Who you got?
03:48 Now, with that being said, I'm going with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
03:54 Mainly because it's like I'm a legacy guy, right?
03:57 And I understand, like, we watched Patrick Mahomes go through some rough patches and come out the other end.
04:02 I think the biggest thing about his game is not all the touchdowns and the great passes and the third down and all that.
04:07 He knows when to take a sack.
04:09 He knows when to throw it away and fight for another day.
04:12 He's not caring about the statistics and all that.
04:14 He wants to win the football game, and he wants to do that by any means necessary.
04:19 So I think he understands just how to control the game as it goes along.
04:24 He's not going to turn the ball over.
04:25 He's going to make the right decisions.
04:27 And then nowadays, more than even when we were playing, they have four down territory.
04:31 As soon as they cross that 50 or they get close to it, they got four downs.
04:34 So, like, you know, Coach Coffey wasn't going four down, four down like that.
04:38 Yeah, no, no.
04:39 They didn't care about the data.
04:41 The data wasn't there yet.
04:42 So they're doing that now more than ever, which gives you more opportunities for one of the best quarterbacks to play, to have another crack at it.
04:49 Like, that's tough to beat.
04:51 Yeah.
04:52 All right.
04:52 So what you guys don't know behind the scenes, I officially met Victor Cruz in Paris during Fashion Week.
04:59 So we're going to turn over to fashion.
05:01 Let's talk swag talk.
05:02 I do something called fairway fits on the golf course.
05:05 We are not on the golf course right now, even though we will be on Saturday.
05:08 Correct.
05:09 Don't worry about that.
05:09 We'll talk about that later.
05:10 Talk to me about swag in the NFL and who's your top three guys right now in dressing.
05:15 Oh, that's interesting.
05:16 I think I think a lot of the guys, as you've seen over the years, they leveled up now.
05:20 Guys are really paying attention.
05:21 I mean, I go to Giants games now.
05:23 There's a blue carpet and like a whole like background and on it.
05:26 I'm like, what is this?
05:27 We don't have any of this.
05:29 But I think I like guys that like to take risks a lot.
05:32 I like Stefan Diggs.
05:33 Yeah.
05:34 He does a really good job of just showing his fit off and being cool and smooth.
05:38 I don't know.
05:39 Hopkins, he likes to take a lot of risk and he's kind of a smooth cat coming into the
05:42 stadiums.
05:43 And then and then last but not least, I'm a go with what's my guy?
05:47 He just won that.
05:48 The guy for the Browns, for the Browns.
05:51 I don't have this.
05:52 Yeah, I don't have Jeremy, Jeremiah, Pro Bowl.
05:55 I mean, it's the authenticity, man.
05:58 Like, you know, is real.
05:59 He ain't faking it.
06:00 He's not doing it because it's different in this.
06:02 But he's actually from there is actually a part of his lifestyle.
06:06 And he was shown it, had it on display week in and week out.
06:09 Somebody's walking around in a hot dog outfit.
06:11 That's not the fashion we talk about right there.
06:15 We ain't doing no glizzy fit.
06:17 We ain't doing no glizzy fit.
06:19 But those three guys are a really high level for me.
06:22 That's what's up.
06:23 OK, so let's talk about your partnership with Captain Morgan.
06:26 Talk a little bit about that.
06:27 Yeah, so I've been working with Captain Morgan for about three years now, man.
06:29 It's just been a phenomenal partner.
06:31 And they've been doing this thing called the Fan of the Year Award where they go
06:33 around the country and visit all these different nominees for the Fan of the Year.
06:38 When I tell you these people are fans of this game, like, you know,
06:42 we grew up loving the game and we had our favorite players.
06:44 But these people are on a whole nother level.
06:47 Like, they have a man--not a man cave.
06:49 They have a man cave house.
06:51 Like, their whole house is dedicated to their favorite sports teams.
06:54 And I got to meet a lot of these people.
06:56 And the winner will be chosen tonight at NFL Honors.
07:00 And they're going to get this trophy that you see behind us right now.
07:02 That's the trophy that they're going to get and receive.
07:05 And then on Saturday night at the Sports Illustrated Party--
07:08 Are we in there?
07:09 --you know, with Kygo and the Chainsmokers and BB Rex are pulling up.
07:13 Yeah.
07:14 And we're going to have a good time, and they're going to be able to pull up.
07:16 All the nominees are invited.
07:17 They're going to pull up, and they're going to have a drink with Captain Morgan.
07:20 They're going to drink responsibly, of course.
07:22 And we're just going to kick back and have a good time.
07:24 You're invited too.
07:25 I'm going to be there.
07:26 You can pull up if you want to as well.
07:27 I'm going to be there.
07:28 You already know.
07:29 Say less, say less.
07:30 Ladies and gentlemen, Victor Cruz.
07:31 Oh, we dancing.
07:32 Oh, we dancing.
07:33 Yeah.
07:34 He ain't got it spec'd out right, but we dancing.
07:35 We good.
07:36 [LAUGHTER]
07:37 Thumbs up.