Victor Cruz, former wide receiver for the Super Bowl-winning New York Giants, believes giving back – and coming back – to a community can inspire others. He brought his own brand of inspiration to a conversation with Marietta Rodriguez, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America, during an afternoon workshop sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. The afternoon workshop was part of NeighborWorks' Virtual Training Institute and served to motivate listeners who learned about Cruz's position as a giant, both on and off the field.
Rodriguez spoke early on about NeighborWorks' mission of helping create safe and affordable homes, and asked Cruz what home meant to him.
"Home was everything for me. Home was where I connected with my culture and with who I am deep down inside," said Cruz, who is Black and Puerto Rican. "Home was really where I found out who I was before I ever stepped out that front door."
Cruz grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, which was crime-riddled, he said, though he was raised on a street with "19 mothers," where everyone looked after everyone else. He was in fifth grade when a classmate was killed by a stray bullet, something he experienced again and again. His mother pushed him toward sports as a way to keep him off the streets, he said. "She knew what was out there."
Cruz said being in sports taught him teamwork and leadership. "To learn that at a young age was beneficial not just in sports but in anything I do now, moving forward."
What he does now, aside from his work as a sports analyst on ESPN, is to work with his community foundation, giving back to his own community and others. He talks about teamwork when he talks to the community. "In football, everyone has a job to do," said Cruz, who retired from the game in 2018. "Once you understand your role, that's the only way for the team to move forward." His team understood that at the highest level in 2011, he said, when working together during the season propelled the Giants to a 21-17 Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots.
That's something he tries to explain to kids, whether they are in sports or not. His advice to housing organizations – and to anyone who deals with youth? "Just be real," he said. "Be honest about how this world is. Nowadays, if you want to empower the youth, they need to be spoken with the real talk so they can understand what this world is, how difficult it is to succeed."
It was his first public trip to Paterson, just before the Super Bowl, that helped him realize his impact on the community, he said. He held up his arm to show goosebumps as described people lining the streets and cheering. "In that moment I realized this this game, this affect I'm having on my hometown is bigger than football, bigger than just me." It was a big deal for kids who aspired to be successful and for peers, who had walked down the same streets. It wasn't just because he had success, he said. It was because he had success and he came back. "I always wanted to be the one who reached back down for those kids that looked up to me and give them that positive motivation," he said.
Cruz started the Victor Cruz Foundation after visiting a White House science fair in 2013. He decided he wanted his community have opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) – hands-on opportunities. The foundation partnered with Time Warner Cable's Connect a Million Minds and the Boys and Girls Club of America to help implement the first STEM curriculum through DIY STEM.
During their hourlong conversation, Cruz and Rodriguez also discussed financial literacy, another focus of NeighborWorks, of Cruz, and of Cruz's mother. "My mother would always sit me down and walk me through her checkbook," he said. "She'd have all her receipts. Checks and balances. She talked me through how she did those things. My mother was always big on saving. She had a Christmas Club account. From a young age, she taught me balancing your money, where it comes and where it goes, is really important."
Cruz urged those listening to talk to youth about money, about jobs and about possibilities. One thing he didn't have, he said, was someone in the community to tell him he could be whatever he wanted to be. "I go back to these Boys and Girls clubs and say, 'How are you feeling?' Even if it's just for 30 seconds, we're having a real conversation. I want to dig deeper so I can feel what they're feeling. Don't be afraid to dig one level deeper into these kids and into their stories."
Rodriguez asked Cruz about what she calls an "inflection point," where people are coming together on social justice issues centered around Black lives.
"There are strides I want to continue to see," Cruz said. "Hopefully, I can be a part of those strides." He said it's important to highlight Black communities, Black businesses and Black owners and said that a portion of the money he gets from his collaborations will support Black initiatives. "People's eyes are brightened to this time period that we're in," he said.
During the question-and-answer period, he was asked more questions about motivating youth (teamwork), how to support Black youth (inject more funds into Black communities) and about what age seemed like the right age to begin civic engagement. Cruz said no age was too young, and mentioned bringing his daughter, then 7, to a homeless shelter to help hand out meals last Thanksgiving. "I don't think there's ever an early age to start giving back," he said.
He also answered Rodriguez's questions as to why he began his famous salsa dancing in the end zone after touchdowns. It was his grandmother who taught him to dance the cha-cha and merengue, he said, his grandmother who always had music playing in the house, promising that he'd appreciate it one day.
When he began as a starting player, a Mexican American coach urged him to represent his culture on the field. "I said, 'I can't cook rice and beans in the end zone.'"
"You have to dance," said the coach.
And so, after catching a 67-yard pass, that is what he did. His grandmother saw the tape. "She said, 'As long as you play football, I want you to dance.'"
08/21/2020
