San Francisco, CA

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers will be dropping the salsa dance in his repertoire of on-field celebratory moves out of respect for New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz's grandmother who passed away recently.

"I'm not gonna do it," said Rogers after being told that Cruz' salsa dance was a tribute to his grandmother Lucy Molina who died at age 77. Molina taught Cruz how to salsa when he was young.

"That's a tribute to his grandmother. Once (I heard) that, I threw that out the door," added Rogers, who imitated the dance after intercepting an Eli Manning pass intended for Cruz in San Francisco 's 27-20 victory over New York last season. "It's definitely out."

"Yeah, that's fine," Cruz said when asked if he was glad that Rogers wouldn't be mimicking his salsa dance. In his book "Out of the Blue" Cruz wrote that he would not forget Rogers ' imitation last year.

In an earlier interview, Cruz reiterated that he would be insulted if Rogers dances the salsa during Sunday's encounter.

"It's just something that I do for my grandmother," Cruz said. "It's something that's sacred to me, it's something that's due to her passing. Before she passed away, it was something dear to me.

"Why I do it is for her because she told me she loved it so much, and she taught me how to do it and all of that put together. Knowing that, it's just a little slap in the face," he added.

Rogers earlier said that he respects Cruz, but possibly would do the dance again if he made a play on the Giants' wide receiver.

"I like the dance, actually," Rogers said. "I really can't do it as good as him but if I make a play or get an interception on him in my mind, just do his dance."

 

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