When NFL players make the long trip to London as part of the league's International Series, it can be a bit of a culture shock. Suddenly, their sport is no longer headline news when they pick up the morning papers and there's not the same buzz of fanfare when they leave home each morning...but Victor Cruz doesn't have that problem.
As a Super Bowl winner, the officially-titled best dressed man in sport and the first NFL player to design a lifestyle shoe for Nike, the 29-year-old New York Giants wide receiver oozes star quality.
Ahead of the Giants' clash with the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley late in October, Victor Cruz was in Niketown London – alongside Odell Beckham Jr – to customise their own pair of Air Force 1s in Nike's Sneaker Cube, when Complex spoke with him about sneakers, style and the prospect of life in London in the not-too-distant future.
You’ve just finished up personalising your own Air Force 1. How was that experience? You got a favourite feature?
It was good. To be able to personalise your own Air Force 1 is always a good thing, it’s such an iconic shoe and to place a Giants logo on the side is pretty dope.
Have you always been a fan of the Air Force 1?
I’ve always been a fan of the Air Force 1. It’s a timeless shoe that will live forever and especially since I was a kid, I always loved that shoe.
Everyone have seen your sneaker closet, which is absolutely insane. How many pairs do you have in there?
There must be at least 300 pairs in there and then I’ve got some stuff that I couldn’t fit in there, so in total I have about 700 or 800 pairs. I keep the rest in the attic and I’ve got an industrial fan up there to keep them climate controlled – it’s a pretty extensive collection.
How do you begin to choose what sneakers you put on display and which ones get shipped to the attic?
Sometimes I’ve got two pairs of one shoe, and the double of that pair will go upstairs. It’s either doubles that go up there or really rare sneakers that go up there – pairs I want to preserve – and then I go and get them out if I ever want to rock them.
What’s the pair you look to wear day-in-day-out?
It’s gotta be the Air Trainer Cruz! I get so many days where I wake up and have to think about what I want to put on and when in doubt, I can turn to my signature shoe and it’s a beautiful thing, man.
And you’ve actually just released a special edition of that shoe for breast cancer awareness month. What’s the story behind that?
I got together with the folks over at Sneaker Room in New Jersey, it’s a store I’ve been going to for four or five years. They do a shoe every year for breast cancer – originally they’d make them on Nike iD and sell them for charity – this year we wanted to push the envelope and did the Air Trainer Cruz. It’s super rare and it looks incredible, we want everyone to come from all over the world for this sneaker.
You’ve got the honour of being named the best-dressed man in Sports Illustrated earlier this year. Fill us in on your style secrets…
I think it’s just being me. I’m true to myself and I love fashion, whether it be suits or streetwear. I just want to be myself when I wear clothes and I think that’s actually what catches people attention, it’s authentic.
I also actually stay abreast on Complex, you guys always know the stories, brands and things that are happening. I like to online shop every now and then but I really like to go out into stores and get my hands on these clothes. I’m just extremely hands on with what I wear.
I know this isn’t your first time in London so having been here a while, what do you make of British style?
I love it, man. I was just telling Odell on the way here that everyone you see on the streets is tailored, they look nice and have really found their fit. People tend to be very uniformed in how they dress and no one looks dishevelled. Everyone owns their style here.
And how much do you enjoy this NFL experience out in London?
I was here in July for the promotion of this event and it’s great. We love having a broadening of our sport and I’m sure it’s just going to get bigger and bigger here.
Where do you stand on the proposed London franchise?
I think it could happen. Even just coming here, it’s been relatively quick – only six hours on the plane – and it’s a city with a lot of culture, so it’s an attractive destination and I think it could be possible. It’s just a matter of schematically, how do we schedule it? If there’s anybody that can work around it, it’s the NFL.
Have you got a sense of how passionate the fan base is out here?
Absolutely, every now and then people are coming up to me and yelling my name out – it’s good. It’s amazing to have done so much in your relative sport that people know who you are. The fans here are smart, too – you look at the names on the back of jerseys here and you can tell the fans know the sport.
Everytime you’re here, I’m sure people talk about how ‘your football’ isn’t the same as ‘our football’. What are your skills like with the round ball?
Oh man, I try! Odell’s a lot better than I am. I pretty good at keep-ups, but anything more than that and it gets a little crazy…
Are you a fan of the sport? I’ve seen you get pictures with Neymar and Pele.
I’m definitely a fan of Neymar and guys like that, Thierry Henry when he played over in New York. I pay attention to the Premier League as much as I can and I play a load of FIFA as well, so I appreciate the sport. People in the US don’t always realise how difficult the sport is.
So FIFA 17 is the biggest thing in your locker room right now?
It is! We even had a PS4 set up during our training camp and the boys played FIFA every single day. Odell is pretty good, I’m pretty good – but it goes back and forth. My favourite players are Neymar and Messi but I’ve also got a lot of love for defence, too – Pepe is my guy.
What’s on the pre-match playlist in the locker room right now?
I’ve got some Young Thug, some Drake, some Wale, some J. Cole. It’s nothing that’d shock people – I mean I like Frank Ocean, that’s a little bit off the beaten path – but it is what it is.
Grime has had a bit of a moment in the US this year, with Drake shouting out Skepta and joining Section Boyz on stage. Has anything from London made its way to the NY Giants yet?
A little bit. I’m a fan of Tinie Tempah, I’ve heard a lot of his music. I definitely want to listen to more of it, UK music as a whole just needs more exposure in the states.
Customise your own Nike Air Force One in the NikeTown London Sneakers Cube.
