Victor Cruz has overcome so much to become one of the captains of the New York Giants, one of the Good Guy faces of an NFL whipped and scarred by the unthinkable actions of exiled Adrian Peterson and floored by the disgraceful elevator punch thrown at partner Janay Rice by Ray Rice.
Cruz and his fiancée, Elaina, have a 2 1/2-year-old daughter named Kennedy who is their precious angel, and the difference between Cruz and Peterson is that Cruz thankfully recognizes right from wrong in a culture that is far different from the one he grew up in.
“You understand, coming from how I grew up, why he did it or how he did it,” Cruz told The Post. “It’s just when it’s broadcasted the way it is, it’s tough to not look at it in scrutiny, and not look at it in a certain way. I understand it, but from a world’s view, it’s different. … It’s not something that’s looked at as a positive thing to hit your child or anything like that. I was hit when I was young, it’s something that happens. … It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
It was his mother, Blanca, who administered the punishment to a mischievous young boy from the Fourth Ward of Paterson, NJ. Cruz has a good relationship with his mother today. He even called her asking for permission to buy a five-figure Rolex President watch. His beloved father, Mike Walker, committed suicide in spring 2007.
Cruz is asked: Did the photos of Peterson’s 4-year-old son bring back painful memories for you?
“No, because it was a part of the culture,” Cruz tells The Post. “It’s a part of, when you grow up in a Puerto Rican household, that you do certain things, you might get a spanking or a whipping every now and then. It’s just … how it goes.”
And the whipping was with what?
Pause. “Next question.”
How old were you?
“I was … 9, 10, 11. Around that age.”
Where were you hit?
“Everywhere.”
Cruz doesn’t recall what he did.
“I don’t remember now, it’s so long ago,” he said. “There’s so many things that have happened in my young life, I don’t remember now.”