Irv Cross

Irvin Acie Cross (July 27, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American professional football player and sportscaster. He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Philadelphia Eagles. Working with CBS, Cross was the first African-American sports analyst on national television. He was an initial co-host of The NFL Today, which became the pre-game show standard for all television networks.

After playing college football for the Northwestern Wildcats, Cross was selected by Philadelphia in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL draft. He played six of his nine NFL seasons with the Eagles. He was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and played there for three seasons before returning to the Eagles and finishing his playing career. While he was playing, Cross was also a radio and TV sports reporter in Philadelphia. He joined CBS in 1971, where he worked until 1994. The Pro Football Hall of Fame awarded him the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2009, becoming the first black person to receive the award. He was also an athletic director at Idaho State University and Macalester College.

Early life Cross was born in Hammond, Indiana, as the fourth of 13 or eighth of 15 children.

College career Cross received a scholarship to attend Northwestern University. A three-year football letterman from 1958 through 1960, Cross played wide receiver, defensive back, and defensive end for Northwestern. He also starred in track and was honored as the university's Male Athlete of the Year as a senior. he became the Eagles starting right cornerback eight games into the season after a broken leg ended Tom Brookshier's career. The Eagles had a 10–4 record that season, but had losing seasons over the next four years of Cross's Philadelphia career, as a starting cornerback. He had two interceptions in 1963 and three in 1964, including an interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers that he returned 94 yards for a touchdown. He also had a fumble recovery and 1½ quarterback sacks in 1964. He had three more interceptions in 1965, and returned 14 punts and 25 kickoffs that season, with his 26.5 yards per kickoff return the fifth best average in the NFL. Cross had consecutive Pro Bowl seasons in 1964 and 1965, before he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for Aaron Martin and Willie Brown in 1966.

Los Angeles Rams Cross played in every game for the Rams from 1966 to 1968, starting 40 games at right cornerback over that time. In 1966, he had one interception, which he returned 60 yards for a touchdown against the New York Giants. He also returned 12 punts and 12 kickoffs for the Rams that year, with his longest a 67-yard kickoff return against the Vikings in an October 1966 game. Cross had two interceptions, and returned 17 punts and four kickoffs for the 1967 Rams.

Return to Eagles In 1969, Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro offensive tackle Bob Brown demanded a trade. The Rams traded Cross, offensive tackle Joe Carollo, and guard Don Chuy for Brown and cornerback Jim Nettles. Cross returned to the Eagles and became a player/coach.

Broadcasting career During his playing career, Cross did drive-time sports reports on WIBG (now WNTP) before doing weekend sports on KYW-TV. Previously, pregame shows were less prestigious than their postgame counterparts, which featured all the Sunday highlights. Cross co-hosted The NFL Today from its inception through 1989. He did not return to network television. "I didn't have an agent, and I didn't search for a TV position as aggressively as I should have", he said in 1996.

Personal life and death Cross served as athletic director at Idaho State University from 1996 to 1998. He then was the director of athletics at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for six years until June 2005. He was the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota until May 2010, and returned to football commentary for the Twin Cities' Fox station KMSP-TV.

Cross had two daughters from a first marriage and two children with his second wife Elizabeth. He was diagnosed with a mild form of dementia in 2018. He suspected that the condition, along with his headaches, neck pain, and backaches, was a result of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by hits to the head that he had suffered during his playing career. Cross arranged to have his brain donated to the Boston University CTE Center after his death, He is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease.

Cross died on February 28, 2021, aged 81, at a hospice in North Oaks, Minnesota, near his home in Roseville. His cause of death was heart disease (ischemic cardiomyopathy).

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