Victor Cruz Is Only A Giant Because Rex Ryan Couldn't Keep His Mouth Shut

When it came time to break camp in 2010, Victor Cruz was decidedly on the bubble. It's not that he wasn't talented, but rather that the Giants weren't yet sure what they had. Ideally, they would have cut him and stashed him on the practice squad. It was a risk, given that any other team could have signed him, but the Giants front office doubted any other team would use a roster spot on an untested, undrafted receiver out of UMass.

Enter Rex Ryan. In the first preseason game, Cruz scored three times against the Jets, and after the game, Ryan couldn't contain his enthusiasm or his personnel plans.

"I hope they cut him," Ryan said after Cruz torched his backup defensive backs. "I know one team that would be ready to sign him, and that'd be us."

Knowing that if they cut him there'd be at least one team waiting to snatch him up, the Giants crammed him onto the 53-man roster. The rest is salsa.

Giants' Victor Cruz rose to surprise stardom after team nearly waived him [Star-Ledger]