Victor Cruz swings by Cheddar to celebrate the Giants 100th season in the NFL and talks Taylor Swift, Tom Brady and Happy Gilmore 2. Watch!
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00:00All right, the New York Giants ringing the bell here at the New York Stock Exchange as the 2024
00:05NFL season is underway and the Giants kick off their 100th NFL season. And we are joined by
00:12one of the all-time great Giants this morning here at the exchange, Super Bowl champ, Pro Bowl
00:17wide receiver, golfer, businessman, broadcaster, I think still salsa dancer, Victor Cruz.
00:24Are you still? Of course. It's in the blood. Am I screwing this up? My son's going to kill me.
00:29Shoulders are a little high, but you're good. Oh, shoulders are high. Relax. Yeah, there we go.
00:34He's going to tell me that I'm awful for doing that. Okay, before we get into the Giants,
00:39let's talk a little bit about last night. Chiefs, Ravens. Ravens scored what appeared to be a game
00:44tying touchdown out by a toe. Big takeaways. Are the Chiefs going to three-peat as Super Bowl
00:51champs? I think they got a chance. I think when you look at the team and you see what they put
00:55out there last night, I think they still have that continuity that we know and love. A few new
00:59faces, obviously worthy getting in the end zone a couple times. It's very, very huge for them.
01:04He's a guy that can push the ball downfield and defenses now have to respect his speed and what
01:09he can do. Kelsey's Kelsey, Mr. Consistent on that football team. And Mahomes still looks like
01:14he's making plays all over the field. But I like the Ravens too. I think they showed some moxie
01:18coming back at the end there. I think, you know, they understand what they, what's asked of them
01:22week in and week out. And, and Lamar Jackson is one of the best players in the league.
01:26Lamar missed a wide open, wide receiver in the end zone there that either tied it or
01:31won it. As a former player, do you tire of the Taylor Swift narrative or do you love it?
01:37I love it. I don't care as long as there's energy being brought to football. I just love how like
01:41they chronicle her entrance every time she's coming in. And she was like, I'm like, is she
01:45performing tonight? I can't tell whether she's performing or just visiting the game and hanging
01:50out, but I love the energy. It's all good. Favorite Taylor Swift song. Can you name one?
01:54I cannot name a Taylor Swift song. I gotta get my daughter in here for that, but I, I don't,
02:00I don't know. I think you have a 12 year old, right? Correct. Yes. So you should know,
02:04you should know the entire catalog. I should know something. Just always say, shake it off.
02:08You can always just go by default. You would know that you would, you would also know the name
02:13Malik neighbors. He is the giants wide receiver rookie who will wear the number one for the first
02:19time since like the 1930s, they unretired this number. And they're already like putting this guy
02:24in the hall of fame. What are you seeing from neighbors? I see a lot of positivity. I see a lot
02:29of good things. I see a guy that can run every route in the book. I see a guy that has some
02:32energy that has a little bit of chip on his shoulder, a little edge to him, which you need
02:36at that position. And I just see a dog, like a guy that can really put the team on his back.
02:41And we know now how important the wide receiver position is for quarterbacks nowadays and how
02:45much they can change the complexity of a football game. And I think Malik neighbors is one of those
02:49guys that can change a game with one big play and one energy, which I know a little something about
02:55as well. Is that what Daniel Jones, the quarterback needed? He has struggled mightily with the
03:01turnovers look like he had cut down on them and then six and six games before getting hurt last
03:07year. Can he ever take the next step? Or is he just a guy? I think he can. I think for the first
03:12time ever offensively, he has the most weapons around him than he's had in years past. And I
03:16think he's building some continuity with those guys. I went and visited a bunch of training camp
03:20practices and he looks comfortable. He looks comfortable out there. And you can tell when a
03:24guy's kind of been behind the eight ball a couple of years and he knows this is like a make or break
03:29kind of season for him. It provides a certain chip on the shoulder that he has to go out there. And
03:33you can kind of see his leadership kind of coming to the top a little bit this year. Who's the best
03:37team in New York? Come on. That's not even a question. It's not a question. I mean, I'm always
03:42going to say the New York Giants, no matter what. As a broadcaster, which you are for TNT now.
03:47Correct. I do understand that the Jets are much improved and I think a lot of it is the
03:50onus on Aaron Rodgers and what he, what his health is and what he can bring to that team.
03:55Defensively, they're stacked. So I think, yes, I think they have a chance to do some really good
03:59things. I'm just happy they're in the AFC and not in the NFC. So we don't have to see them and it
04:04doesn't have any pertinence to our scheduling. But I'm happy for Aaron specifically to see him
04:09back out there healthy, galvanizing that team. And I think they're going to do some good things
04:13this year. So if you're a betting man, you think the Giants win more football games than the Jets.
04:17I'm putting you on the spot. If I'm a betting man, no, I'm smarter with my money in terms of
04:22betting. Obviously, I'm going to bank on Aaron Rodgers, one of the best quarterbacks to ever play
04:27doing some positivity and doing some good things with that New York Jets team, especially with the
04:31wide receiving core and the pass catchers that's built around. 100th NFL season for the Giants.
04:37What's on tap as you guys celebrate the history? Oh, man, there's so much. Obviously, today we're
04:41ringing the bell here at the New York Stock Exchange. We got Fan Fest tonight, getting ready
04:46to meet a lot of the fans and bring some energy before week one. And then Sunday, we're doing
04:51a bunch of things before the game. We're honoring the 100 players. We're honoring a bunch of guys
04:54that are going to be at the game. So I'll be there. That'll be fun. Some pregame stuff that's
04:58going to be happening out there on the field as well. So a lot of stuff I don't even know.
05:03They just drag me out there and say, hey, we need you to come do some stuff for our 100th
05:07anniversary. And I, of course, say yes. What was it like ringing the bell here at the exchange?
05:11It's incredible. I was here once before and done it. But this year is a little different with the
05:14New York Giants family, John Mara, our ownership, our owner up there. And just it's a little different
05:19energy out there this time around than the last. But it's always special to come to New York.
05:23It's such a part of the fabric here. And to do that with this football team is pretty cool.
05:27All right. A couple other NFL storylines. Jamar Chase is certainly one of them, one of the great
05:32NFL wide receivers, top two or three. He has two years left on his deal, and yet he is at least
05:38appearing to threaten to not play. Look, again, as a former player, but as a broadcaster, does it
05:44drive you nuts that a guy has earned the money, but two years left on his deal? Shouldn't he honor
05:48it? Yeah, it's interesting to me. I think, I think you play until you feel underpaid. And I think if
05:54you look at the numbers, if you look at what he's done in this league already to date, he's a bit
05:59underpaid. And then I'm sure he's looking at his peers, right? Some of the peers he's come in with
06:03that have gotten paid, that have gotten been able to take care of their families, that have gotten
06:07the payday that they're looking for. He's kind of sitting back and saying, hey, if you look at this
06:11roster from a receiver perception, you guys need me. So it's either you can pay me now and we can
06:16prorate it. And look, there's different ways to do it, right? They can pay him now. He'll get new
06:20money after year two or year three. Like they can, they can give him a signing bonus up front and
06:24give him new money in year three. So he's still under that contract, so to speak. So he doesn't
06:28hurt the cap as much. So there's different ways to kind of get to where they're looking for,
06:32and let's hope they can reach it. Yeah. He wants to be paid like Justin Jefferson at CD Land,
06:36which he arguably should be. Do you play fantasy football? I do play a little bit. Yeah, you do.
06:41Who are you banking on this year? Oh man. So hopefully not Jamar, because I drafted him.
06:45I drafted Aaron Rodgers. So I hope he's, I hope he's going to come through for me. Okay. I had
06:50to pick him. I like what he's doing. A Giants grade drafted the Jets quarterback? This is fantasy.
06:54This has nothing to do with my Giants fandom and my, and where I'm, you know, my roots as a
06:59Giants fan. This is strictly business here on the fantasy football front. Okay. But I need him,
07:05but I had likely last night. So he got me some good points. He got some great points and almost
07:09broke the bank with that game. One of the other big storylines is Tom Brady in the booth. Tom's
07:15clearly the goat. Do you think you'll be a great broadcaster? He's never been a very open, honest,
07:22insightful guy because he's always been reserved when he speaks into the microphone. Yeah. I think
07:27he's got to pull that veil up a little bit. I think he's got to give us more personality. I
07:30think he's got to give us, we want to get into that mind, right? Like we want to know what he's
07:34thinking. We, I think Tony Romo does such a good job of letting us into the mind of a quarterback
07:39and to the mind of head coaches and into the football team. Like he's almost predicting plays
07:44before they happen. He's almost like a, like a genie to some of these plays, but we need to see
07:50what Tom Brady can bring to the booth. And I love Greg Olson, Jersey guy. Like he's got a,
07:55he's got some big shoes to fill over there. So I'm excited to see what he brings to the booth
07:59and what energy he brings to the table. I want to see him be critical of guys on the field. It feels
08:04like he's scared to do so. One of the unlikely TV stars in broadcasting is your former quarterback,
08:10Eli Manning, who nobody would have figured. How surprised are you that he's become a TV star? I'm
08:16not surprised at all. Mainly because I seen that side. Like we, we see, we didn't see you guys
08:21hadn't seen it, but I see that side of Eli all day long. I see it from him, whether it's on the golf
08:26course or in the locker rooms or all those moments that people don't see. That's when Eli's letting
08:32his hair down a little bit and, and being funny and being that character that you guys see on TV.
08:37Now the best is his commercials. I think the commercials are incredible. There were a couple
08:41that aired last night, obviously in the first game of the season and the Corona one is incredible. I
08:45mean, they're all great and he's just such a character and I'm excited that people are starting
08:49to see that side of him now that he's retired. All right. For those that follow Victor on
08:53Instagram, if you don't, you should, you know, his golf game is on par. Who's the best former
09:00giant golfer? Do you hold that tight? I wish I held that tight. I'm up there. I'm up there,
09:05but I'm going to go with Eli's up there. I think Lawrence tines is up there. He's a pretty good
09:10player. Zach Dias is pretty good. I'm playing with Sean O'Hara next week. He's pretty solid.
09:16So if I had to pick one, I'm gonna go with Zach Dias because I heard he's won the,
09:20the member member down at Somerset Hills a couple of times. So I'm going with Zach and his dad,
09:24Steve. All right. Final question. I know happy Gilmore is your favorite sports movie part two
09:29coming out. How excited are you for that? And could a former football player become a golfer
09:35maybe in part three? Yeah, I don't see why not. I love happy Gilmore. I heard they're filming some
09:39of the parts in some golf course in New Jersey. Guys, I'm local. Find me. I'm here. I can,
09:45I can bring my own clubs. You guys don't need to bring props. I have my own stuff. Call me.
09:50So yeah. So I think, I think an NFL player can, I think an NBA player can, I mean,
09:54you look at guys like Steph Curry, you look at guys out there on, in football that can do it.
09:58I think, I mean, Eric Ebron is a guy that I look at that that's a pretty good golfer as well. So
10:03like, I think it can be done. We'll see. I mean, it's only a matter of time before someone that's
10:09played a different sport can maybe get into, break into the PGA tour, or even the senior
10:13tour down the, down the line. He's got to get a role here in happy Gilmore. Talk to me.
10:18Two, let's go. Talk to me, guys. Somebody call me. Call my agent. He's a Superbowl champ. He's
10:23a Pro Bowl wide receiver. One of the all-time great giants as they start their 100th season.
10:28Great to have you here, Victor Cruz. Thank you, baby.