Victor Cruz pays tribute to Newtown shooting victim Jack Pinto

Sports news is usually filled with athletes doing stupid things. Maybe it’s about time it gets filled with athletes doing wonderful things.

In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz discovered that he was the favorite player of one of the victims, Jack Pinto. For Sunday’s game against Atlanta, Cruz wrote Pinto’s name on his shoes in tribute to the 6-year-old.

“It’s humbling,” he said. “I was honored to know I was his favorite player. It’s just unreal what happened.”

WHO THEY WERE: Connecticut shooting victims

Cruz said he has spoken to Pinto’s family on the phone, and that he will visit them later this week and give them the cleats he wore during the game.

“We may do a fundraiser, something like that,” Cruz said. “For now, all we want to do is comfort the family. We’ll think about other things we can do to help in the long term.”

“We see the effect we have on kids, and it’s humbling. It’s a real honor to be a role model.”

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