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For football fans, this week marks one of the biggest events for the sport: Super Bowl.

On Sunday (February 5), The New York Giants play the New England Patriots and the hype leading up to the big game is going to be in overdrive right until kick off. New York native and neighbor to Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, Joell Ortiz, says he thinks his hometown team can win another Championship.

“The Giants embody New York,” Ortiz tells XXLMag.com. “They are the way New York runs. It's hard nose, it may not be pretty, but the job gets done. And Victor Cruz is the perfect example that you ain’t gotta go to this big [college] to get noticed. You just have to work hard. He worked hard, he outworked people and he impressed people and he’s one of, if not the best wide receiver on the Giants. Eli Manning, it doesn’t look pretty. It's not finess, it’s not like his brother [Peyton], the crispness [in the passes], but the job gets done. That’s what New York dudes do: we get it done. Everybody knows when New York is in town.

“The giants embody New York to me, man,” he continued. “Honestly, as a fan of football, not just because I’m from New York, I honestly think they have a great shot of winning the Super Bowl because of that wining attitude.”

Recently, Joell Ortiz spoke to XXLmag.com about his upcoming album with Slaughterhouse, and how Cruz helped him realize how blessed he is to be putting out the project through Shady Records, specifically.

“I spoke to Victor Cruz last night,” Joell said with a chuckle. “He’s a homie, Puerto Rican dude around the way. He said, ‘Joell, it still ain’t hit me.’ Then he called me later today like, ‘I’m going to the Super Bowl, son!’ That’s what you wait on. You wait on your release date, you want the album to be done. Sometimes it takes a while for you to be like, ‘Oh shit. I’m coming out on Shady!’ —Shaheem Reid

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