New York Giants wideout Victor Cruz emerged from the wilderness last season to become of the league's most explosive slot receivers.
And a pretty good dancer, too.
Cruz's end-zone salsa act (initially entertaining, but -- let's be honest -- increasingly beaten over our heads) remains a hot topic. On Cruz's recent media tour to promote his new memoir, "Out of the Blue," interviewers have asked a little bit about football -- and a lot about salsa.
"Well, my grandmother was the one who taught me how to do the dance and I remember my coach, coach (Mike) Sullivan, who was our quarterback's coach at the time. When I was getting my first start against Philadelphia (in Week 10), he was like, 'Man you gotta do something to represent your culture and your ethnicity and all Puerto Ricans and Latin people all over," Cruz told Mike Francesa of WFAN-AM, via SportsRadioInterviews.com.
"He's like you gotta dance in the end zone," Cruz said. "... I told him yeah to get him out of my face. ... Low and behold, early in the game, I catch a pass and I am going down the sideline and I am about at the 5-yard line, and in my head I am like, man, I gotta do this dance now. I put the ball down and I just started dancing. I got really into it once I started doing it and it kind of took a life of its own after that."
Cruz reached the end zone 10 times last season, including his first-quarter touchdown in the Super Bowl. The Giants, for one, hope the dancing continues.
