Ronnie Valentin Cruz (born June 11, 1981) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

fullback. He was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004. He played college football at

Northern State University Northern State University (NSU) is a public university in Aberdeen, South Dakota. NSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and offers 45 bachelor's degrees, 53 minors, six associate degrees, 16 pre-professional programs, 23 certif ...

. Cruz has also been a member of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

Early years

Ronnie Cruz was named football

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and student-athlete of the year at Clear Lake High School in

Lakeport, California Lakeport is an incorporated city and the county seat of Lake County, California. This city is northwest of Sacramento. Lakeport is on the western shore of the county namesake, Clear Lake, at an elevation of . The population was 5,026 at the 202 ...

. He ranked second in rushing in the state of California. Ronnie Cruz was once considered a tuba prodigy.

College career

Ronnie Cruz began his collegiate career at Mendocino Community College in

Ukiah, California Ukiah ( ; Pomo: ''Yokaya'', meaning "deep valley") is the county seat and largest city of Mendocino County, California, with a population of 16,607 at the 2020 census. With its accessible location along the U.S. Route 101 corridor, Ukiah serves ...

, where he was an all-conference and all-region honoree. He had 152 carries for 863 yards and 10 scores as a freshman in 14 games played. He finished his sophomore season with 264 attempts for 1,779 rushing yards with 14

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. He played two years at Northern State in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen ( Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre. The city population was 28,495 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populous ci ...

. As a Junior Cruz led the school with 200 carries for 892 rushing yards and seven touchdowns along with six receptions for 59 yards with one score. As a Senior he played in 11 games, recording 1,476 rushing yards on 240 carries with 18 touchdowns and 33 receptions for 316 yards with one score. Cruz was named to the first-team All-Region and

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...

teams as a senior. He ranked eighth in scoring and 10th in rushing his senior year.

Career college statistics

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

His role with the

in 2005 was mostly a backup role at halfback to

Priest Holmes Priest Anthony Holmes (born October 7, 1973)
''www.databasefootball.com.'' Retrieved February 13, 2016 ...

and Larry Johnson, and backup to fullback

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early ...

. Prior to the 2006 season, Richardson signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

, giving the starting fullback role to Cruz. In week six, Cruz suffered a knee injury that benched him for the entire 2006 season. The Chiefs released Cruz at the beginning of the 2007 season.

Dallas Cowboys

On January 18, 2008, Cruz signed with the

. He quickly worked his way to second on the depth chart as a fullback, but a shoulder injury in a preseason game ended his season. He was later released by the Cowboys with an injury settlement.

Florida Tuskers

Cruz was drafted by the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

on the

UFL Premiere Season Draft The UFL "Premiere" Season Draft was the inaugural draft of the United Football League (UFL). The results of the draft were announced via press release on June 19, 2009. Among the players selected were those that participated in earlier workouts in ...

in 2009 and signed with the team on August 17.

Personal life

Cruz is now a bail bondsman and fugitive recovery agent. He now owns and operates Cruz Out of Jail Bail Bonds with two locations: one office in

Sacramento, CA ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and the other in Lakeport, CA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Ronnie 1981 births Living people American football fullbacks Kansas City Chiefs players Dallas Cowboys players Florida Tuskers players Northern State Wolves football players People from Lakeport, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Lake County, California