The Football Life

The Football Life The life of a professional athlete isn''t all easy. Everyone thinks that all athletes are self centered and Just want to make tons of money by playing sports. That is not true. And Victor Cruz is the perfect example of a professional athlete that came from nothing and now he is a star football player with a big heart. Cruz is from Petterson, New Jersey. He lived with his Puerto Rican mother and his African American father who was a firefighter. His parents were never married. In 2007 his father committed suicide. His life wasn''t easy after that.

He struggled to juggle college and his football career. Cruz became eligible to play football in 2007; his Junior year. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts and ranked forth on the all-time UMass receptions list in football. He made 149 catches, 11 touchdowns and had Just under 2,000 receiving yards. If you don''t know much about football, that is very good for only playing for two years. Even after having a great two years in college he went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft. He was signed the day after the draft was over by the New York Giants.

In 2010, e played his first game with the New York Giants. It was the preseason game verses the New York Jets. After playing that game very well, he was rewarded the Giants'' 53- man. That means he made the final cut and he can play that year. He pulled a hamstring during practice before the first game of the season but still played the first five games. He played horribly and was put on injury reserve for the rest of the season. 2011 was a better year for him. He began the season as the Giants forth wide receiver. Cruz proved himself to everyone during the game against the Eagles.

He made two touchdowns winning the game. He also made a one-handed 68-yard touchdown reception in the game against the Seahawks. Cruz tied the NFL record with a 99-yard touchdown return. He helped the Giants win the NFC title game against the 49ers with 20 catches for 142 yards in the first half. They went on to play the Patriots in the Super Bowl and won. He made it onto the Giants franchise records holding the most receiving yards in a single season with 1,536. Cruz has celebrated all of his touchdowns by doing the salsa dance. He started that after his beloved randmother passed away.

She taught him the salsa and told him how much she loved when players celebrated their success for a touchdown by dancing a little dance. Dancing with the Stars offered him a spot on the show; he respectfully declined. Victor Cruz has a very big heart. On December 14, 2012 Jack Pinto lost his life. He was a huge Giants fan and especially loved Victor Cruz. Some celebrities might Just say one thing about the matter and move on with their lives, but Cruz didn''t. HE went to visit the Pinto family the tuesday after the tragedy to pay his respects to the family.

He played touch football at the families home with several elementary school children. He not only stayed for the game but he also stayed at the house with the tamily tor an extra 45 minutes. He tweeted "much love to the entire Pinto tamily. Great people with huge hearts" Coach of the Giants, Tom Coughlin also said "Incredibly proud of what Cruz has done, that family will remember that all their days. Hopefully, at least some of their grief may temporarily be spent in being able to embrace Victor Cruz. The fact that he went and did that speaks volumes about what he has in him, inside"(ESPN).

Another player in the NFL Ray Rice who plays for the Ravens also said, miou''ve got to be able to put yourself in that family''s situation to understand at least what they''re going through, that''s what it''s about. You know, that''s something that you do it from the heart. You do it from within. What he did was amazing because, honestly, I was affected by that more than I''ve ever been affected before. We play this game of football and we want to be able to please everybody. We talk about winning and losing, but the real losers on that end was the families of Newtown.

They''ve got to wake up every day in a situation where and have no answers to unsolved problems that no one can even imagine that it happened" (ESPN). Victor Cruz also has a clothing line with a member of the Jaguars that was previously on the Giants, Nate Collins. In 2010, they started their company in April and my September they were ready to sell their first line of clothing. Cruz said, "l love it, I''ve always wanted to be involved in fashion and have my own clothing line and do some things like that. And now that I''m able to have one, it''s amazing" (Eisenband). They names the line Young Whales.