Cruz, Victor, and Peter Schrager. Out of the Blue. New York, Celebra, 2012. 253.

Imagine this: you just graduated from the University of Massachusetts, being one of the top wide receivers in Massachusetts history. You’re sitting on your couch, on your heels watching the NFL draft hoping for name to get called by the announcer. Out Of The Blue by Victor Cruz and Peter Schrager, is a biography about Victor Cruz, a professional football player, from the day he was born to today.

Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey by his mother and grandmother, Victor’s father is a firefighter at the Paterson fire station, and is rarely ever home. Victors main focus growing up, was  basketball. He didn’t do any of his homework because of love for basketball. In high school Vic was the starting point guard for his varsity team. The perk that Vic had that no else had, was speed. His coaches noticed that and recommended playing football. Vic wanted to play but he had never played organized football before. His interest in football overcame his interest in basketball. By his senior year, he was averaging around three touchdowns a game, trying to impress the college scouts watching. He was really hoping a  Division 1 school would offer him scholarships. Days passed, and he asked his coach why nobody was interested. His coach then told him the University of Massachusetts thought he would be great addition to the team, but his GPA was too low to be accepted. In the beginning of the 2nd semester of his sophomore year, he got his GPA high enough and was finally accepted.

My thoughts on this book are pretty good. I didn’t really know anything about Victor Cruz, but now I know almost everything thing about him from the day he was born to now. One thing that stood out to me was how the authors went so into detail with most of his big life events. Also, the theme of overcoming obstacles was easy to find out. The authors made it clear that Victor went through lots of trouble, some examples are school, college, and the draft. Overall I think this book is well written and engaging. I would recommend this book to any who follows the NFL.