THE JOURNAL

The Super Bowl star shares his morning routine.
Mr Victor Cruz is well-named. When in full flight, there are still few more naturally exciting runners in the NFL. And he has his signature salsa dance touchdown celebration to match. After seven seasons at his hometown club the New York Giants – with whom he won the Super Bowl in 2012 – the 30-year-old wide receiver recently moved to the Chicago Bears. Though his surroundings are new, his morning routine has largely stayed the same. As the new NFL season gets under way, Mr Cruz, a Member of MR PORTER’s Style Council and a regular on the fashion circuit, tells us how he gets ready each day.
I’m a good sleeper. I have to get at least eight to nine hours of sleep. I go to bed around 10.30pm and wake around 6.30am. I don’t need an alarm clock. When you’re in a routine of waking up so early every day, your body has its own alarm. But I do set my phone just in case.
On my bedside table I have my phone, my book and my jewellery. At the moment, I’m wearing my Rolex Day-Date 60th-anniversary watch with a green face, and a Cartier bracelet. The book I’m reading is Shoe Dog, a memoir by Phil Knight, the creator of Nike.
The first thing I do when I wake up is put music on. I’m not the brightest person first thing, so I get myself going with some music. I’m into JAY-Z these days. The music is on the whole time, and I’ll have CNN on mute on my TV.
I think about what to wear that day when I am in the shower. Sometimes I might even have picked it out the night before. I got to wear whatever the latest and greatest in my closet is. When I got into sneakers, I was always that kid who would change my sneakers on the spot and walk out the store with the new ones on. Today I’m wearing the Ricardo Tisci x NikeLab Dunks, the black ones.
My grooming routine is very simple. I use Head & Shoulders shampoo and Neutrogena face wash. I like Le Labo body wash and I wear Le Labo Ylang 49 fragrance. It’s my favourite scent of all time.
I usually leave the house around 7.15am. Training starts at 8.00am. I only live about 10 minutes’ drive away. The squad eats together at the training facility – all healthy food. But before I leave the house, I’ll drink a bottle of water to start my day hydrated and I might have some fruit, maybe some pancakes. But I keep it light before training.
CRUZ CONTROL
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