.png&type=webp){kind=icon}
By now, everyone knows the Legend of Victor Cruz. Local kid from Paterson, N.J., goes to small school, catches only five touchdowns his senior year at UMass, signs with the Giants as an undrafted free agent and together with his blue ox, Babe, torches the Jets for three touchdowns in the preseason opener. This weekend, when he learned he had made the 53-man squad, he wept.
"He's a hometown hero," one of his teammates said earlier this week.
That teammate happened to be Duke Calhoun, the other undrafted rookie receiver who made the roster. Calhoun didn't catch as many passes or score as many touchdowns or do as many national interviews as Cruz did during this preseason. LeBron James never tweeted about Calhoun. But Calhoun might have something he can hold over Cruz pretty soon.
Come Sunday, Calhoun may be the one who wears a uniform and plays while Cruz stands on the sideline.
That's because Calhoun made the team mostly on the strength of his special-teams play, and that goes a long way in determining who will be on the 45-man game-day roster. Sure he caught the winning touchdown pass against the Patriots [ team stats] last week, but more importantly, he made a strong play on punt coverage, bolting down the sideline and cutting across the field to make a tackle early in the fourth quarter.
"I made a little tackle on special teams," Calhoun said of the stop. "I'm here to make plays. That's what I do. That's what I'm going to do."
He was also in position a week earlier against the Ravens to down a punt inside the 5 before it scooted away from him and into the end zone. He didn't make the play, but perhaps more importantly, he was there.
Coaches always talk about special teams being the way onto the roster. Most of the rookies who are good enough to play in the NFL didn't have to run specials in college, though. And those who did were mostly flashy returners, not grunt gunners. But at Memphis, Calhoun played all facets of special teams, including making tackles and blocking. That gave him an advantage this summer.
"They don't have a clue," Calhoun said of most rookies. "But I've played a little bit."
He also has a connection with Eli Manning, having attended one of the Manning Passing Academies his sophomore season at Memphis. He said that he worked with the Giants' quarterback but also received praise from Peyton Manning.
"Afterward, Peyton was like, 'There were two receivers that stood out,'" Calhoun said. That was him and LSU's Early Doucet. "So we did pretty good in that camp."
Calhoun did pretty good in this one, too. Good enough to make the team, although he said he was never really told about that. He just waited until Saturday afternoon when the cuts were announced and searched for them online. When he didn't see his name as one of those waived, he knew he'd made the squad. And that's when he called his fellow rookie receiver.
"I called Vic and said, 'Man, we're part of the team now, so whatever they call on us to do, we've got to do it,'" Calhoun said. "We've got to have each other's back."
Leave a comment