New York Giants: Victor Cruz’s New Chapter Set to Begin

New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz’s NFL story comes full circle Saturday night when he is due to take the field for the first time since October 2014.

It’s been a long time since New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz has seen live action.

By the time he takes the field for the Giants Saturday night in their preseason game against the New York Jets, it will, in fact, have been one year, 10 months and 15 days since that fateful night on October 12, 2014.

That night, Cruz, the Giants’ rags-to-riches receiver, found himself crumbled up in pain on the turf at Lincoln Financial Field, his Giants destroyed by the Philadelphia Eagles 27-0 on national television.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

As he was carted off, Cruz was seen sobbing uncontrollably, his future left in doubt.

His diagnosis, a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, was one that, per a June 2016 study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine regarding postoperative outcomes of orthopedic procedures in NFL players, found that just half of the players who suffered a torn patellar injury were able to resume their careers (h/t Brad Gagnon, Bleacher Report).

But this was not the first time Cruz was facing long odds. Once the shock and disappointment wore off, Cruz went to work, perhaps, in retrospect, pushing himself to do things his body wasn’t quite ready to do.

Having worked his way through rehab after the procedure to repair his patellar tendon, Cruz would end up suffering a season-ending calf injury in his other leg, an injury that he told Jordan Raanan, then of NJ Advance Media, came about as a result of him overcompensating for his right knee.

Too Legit to Quit

Situations that call for overcoming long odds are what Victor Cruz excels in. This, after all was an undrafted free agent out of UMass whom no one thought twice about when his name appeared on the Giants’ 2010 training camp roster.

That changed on August 16, the Giants first preseason game of that year. Normally, the Giants-Jets summer meeting is reserved for the fourth of the five preseason weekends that the NFL schedules annually.

Facing a fierce Rex Ryan-designed Jets defense, Cruz lit up Gang Green to the tune of six receptions for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

Cruz would go on to spend his rookie season on injured reserve, but the following year when the Giants would make an inspirational run all the way to the Super Bowl, there was the Salsa King doing his thing and contributing the first of two consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons (1,536 yards).

Cruz followed that performance up with another 1,000-yard effort (1,092 yards) and his first Pro Bowl berth. In 2013, he fell just two yards shy of topping 1,000 yards three years in a row.

Then came 2014.

Voted as one of the team’s captains, Cruz’s long and painful odyssey began in the third quarter of that Eagles game on a 4th-and-3 from the Eagles’ 3-yard line, the pass from Manning falling incomplete.

When Cruz was carted off, never to be heard from again that season, an argument could be made that with him went the Giants 2014 season.

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /

The Comeback is On

Victor Cruz’s comeback story was meant to be written. Sure it had to undergo a few major revisions, but with the story set to return from its hiatus Saturday night, Giants fans will see a mentally stronger and more determined player than that young rookie who, according to Mike Garafolo, then of The Star-Ledger, had Rex Ryan hoping that he would hit the waiver wire.

The careful planning and handling of Cruz by the Giants is a big part of that. Last week when the team traveled to Buffalo to face old friend Ryan, now the Bills head coach, Cruz was allowed by Giants head coach Ben McAdoo to travel with the team, even though the receiver was not going to play that weekend.

Not only did Cruz make the trip, he got dressed for the game and went through the team warm-ups before returning to the background to wait for his moment.

This week, Cruz finally has the green light from the Giants’ medical staff to follow through and take those first snaps that so many people doubted would ever come again.

More from New York Giants

“I’m ready,” Cruz said this week. “Obviously it’s been a long time coming. I had a good week of practice, everything feels great so I’m just excited to put that out there on the game field for the first time in a long time.”

Cruz successfully came through an intense week of rehab last week that ultimately led to him getting on the practice field for the first time since early August– and with no restrictions.

Over the course of the week, he received an estimated 20 reps in live team drills, each time looking no worse for the wear, according to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan.

“There were a couple clips (Tuesday) that jumped out,where his release versus press, there was the suddenness, the explosiveness, the things that I have in my mind, visions of 2011 in terms of that type of quickness,” Sullivan said.

“It was good to have him back. He looked explosive, fast and healthy. He was making plays,” said quarterback Eli Manning, the man who threw those passes that helped launch Cruz’s career against the Jets and who will again be throwing to the receiver to help launch the comeback.

“That little rest he got paid off and it’s good to see him. Excited to see him on a game day and to see him in some live action.”

“When he first got out here this week, he showed a burst and showed some acceleration–he can put his foot in the ground,” said McAdoo, who said that Cruz will see some early snaps. “I would love to see him get his hands on a football and make some plays for us.”

If Cruz can make some plays, that would be the ultimate start to this new chapter of what’s been a career that has seen him do what so many people said he couldn’t.

“It’s the story of my life,” Cruz said. “You can’t write it any better than this. This is the way my career has gone. It’s the way my professional career has gone. The Jets preseason game has always been some type of landmark situation for me, so here we go again.”

William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports /

Modest Expectations

When it’s all said and done, no one will remember a meaningless preseason game; a game that is often thought of the final dress rehearsal for the starters before the curtain rises on the regular season.

But don’t tell that to Cruz.

“I think this one is more of just the game. This one is crossing so many hurdles, so many barriers. So many ups and downs that I had to face to get to this moment,” he said.

“Now, I’m just ready to relax and go play some football again. To me, this game is bigger than just the game. Although it’s just a preseason game, for me, mentally and emotionally, physically, it’s more than just a football game.”

It’s a long-awaited opportunity that Cruz knew would one day come and a chance for his storybook career to come full circle.

All quotes obtained firsthand.

Home/New York Giants