Superbowl champ, Paterson Catholic gridiron great
Victor Cruz, a Superbowl champion for the N.Y. Giants and a football star for the former Paterson Catholic High School, will be among several Latino leaders to be honored by the Joseph A. Unanue Latino Institute (JAULI) at its Carnaval Gala on Thursday, Oct. 24 in Bethany Hall at Seton Hall University in South Orange.
The gala brings together global leaders in numerous industries and sectors, alumni, students, donors, and corporate partners to celebrate servant leadership and honor exceptional individuals and institutions that inspire and uplift Latino communities.
Other honorees are Sara Peña, director of external affairs for PSEG; Deborah Visconi, president and CEO of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center; and Adrian Orozco, ’19, New Jersey political director of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ.
This annual JAULI gathering is part of Seton Hall’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. It is designed to raise scholarship funds for JAULI’s mission: to advance, educate, and transform students into the next generation of servant leaders in our ever-changing global society.
The Institute has distributed $1.85 million in scholarships to more than 400 undergraduate and graduate students since 2005. In 2024, JAULI helped support more than 50 scholars from diverse backgrounds to attend Seton Hall; many are first-generation students.
Cruz will receive the Esperanza Award. A Super Bowl champion and a 1x Pro Bowl Receiver for the NFL, Cruz was an all-state receiver for Paterson Catholic. After graduating from high school, Victor accepted a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts, where he earned more athletic accolades and was ranked as high as 13th in the NCAA for receiving yards per game.
As an undrafted free agent in 2010, he played his way onto the Giants’ 53-man regular-season roster. By the end of the 2011 season, he finished with a single-season franchise record for receiving yards. He was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. Cruz also tied an NFL record for the longest play with a 99-yard touchdown reception. He was an integral part of the Giants’ victory over the Patriots in Superbowl XLVI in 2012. The following year, he was selected for the 2012 Pro Bowl.
Cruz launched the Victor Cruz Foun-dation in 2014, encouraging children to become physically active, focusing on college readiness, financial literacy, and STEM programming.
Since retiring from the NFL in 2018, Cruz has been an ESPN NFL analyst and TV host for E! Entertainment and helped launch 100k Ventures, a Flint, Mich. accelerator venture capitalist group in 2019.
The gala’s cocktail hour begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and program at 7:30 p.m. Reserve a seat by Oct. 17.
For sponsorship and ticket inquiries, contact Maddie Romano, experiential engagement director at Alumni Engagement and Philanthropy, at madeline.romano@shu.edu
