Irvin Acie Cross (July 27, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American professional football player and sportscaster. He played

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) and was a two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

. Working with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, Cross was the first African-American sports analyst on national television. He was an initial co-host of ''

The NFL Today ''The NFL Today'' is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ''NFL on CBS'' brand. The program features commentary on the latest ne ...

'', which became the pregame show standard for all television networks. After playing college football for the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

, Cross was selected by Philadelphia in the seventh round of the

1961 NFL Draft The 1961 National Football League draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first reg ...

. 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 Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He joined CBS in 1971, where he worked until 1994. The

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

awarded him the

Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award The Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, created in 1989 and named for the late longtime NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle, is bestowed annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame "for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in profes ...

in 2009, becoming the first black person to receive the award. He was also an

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927) University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho Stat ...

and

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

Early life

Cross was born in Hammond, Indiana, as the eighth of 15 children. He attended Hammond High, where he played football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and was also a track athlete. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' named him the 1957 Male Athlete of the Year. He was inducted into the Hammond Sports Hall of Fame.

College career

Cross graduated with a

bachelor of science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

School of Education and Social Policy in 1961, the same graduating class as future broadcasting colleague Brent Musburger. He was part of

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for br ...

's first recruiting class with the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

.Deardorff, Julie. "Bearing the Cross: Pioneering Broadcaster Pens Memoir," Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Monday, January 15, 2018.
Retrieved December 11, 2018 A three-year football letterman from 1958 through 1960,Northwestern University 2018 Football Media Guide.
Retrieved December 11, 2018 Cross played wide receiver, defensive back, and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

for Northwestern. He was a team captain and an honorable-mention all-conference selection in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in 1960. He also starred in track and was honored as the university's Male Athlete of the Year as a senior.

Professional football career

Cross was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round (98th overall) of the 1961 NFL Draft. He was one of the first African-American starters for the franchise. After beginning his rookie year in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

as third string, he became the Eagles starting right

eight games into the season after a broken leg ended

Tom Brookshier Thomas Jefferson Brookshier (December 16, 1931 – January 29, 2010) was an American professional football player, coach, and sportscaster. He was a starting defensive back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) for ...

's career. Cross suffered numerous concussions that year, prompting his teammates to call him "Paper Head". The most severe was in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, when he was unconscious after blocking on a punt return for Timmy Brown. He spent three nights in a hospital. The team doctor said that a major hit to the head could be fatal if he returned too soon. To protect himself, Cross had a helmet with extra padding made. "I just tried to keep my head out of the way while making tackles, but that's just the way it was. Most of the time, they gave you some smelling salts and you went back in. We didn't know", he recalled in 2018. In his second season in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, Cross had a career-high five

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s. He had consecutive

seasons in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and 1965, before he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for Aaron Martin and Willie Brown in 1966.Cross, Irv & Brown, Clifton. ''Bearing the Cross: My Inspiring Journey from Poverty to the NFL and Sports Television''. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2017.
Retrieved December 11, 2018 In

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, he returned to the Eagles and became a player/coach. Cross retired from play before the 1970 season, becoming a coach for the Eagles. He finished his playing career with 22 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries, eight forced fumbles, and two defensive

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 was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. During his playing career, Cross did

drive-time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cla ...

sports reports on WIBG (now

WNTP WNTP (990 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WNTP is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a Conservatism in the United States, conservative talk radio radio ...

) before doing weekend sports on KYW-TV. He was the first black person to do TV sports reports in Philadelphia.

After football

Cross became an analyst and commentator for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

in 1971, when he became the first African American to work as a sports analyst on national television. In 1975, he teamed with Musburger and

Phyllis George Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women ...

on ''

'' and became the first African American to co-anchor a network sports program. The show was the pregame model all networks used thereafter. 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. In 1990, the network revamped the show after firing Musburger in a contract dispute, ending Cross's run on the show. He returned to being a game analyst. In addition to his work on CBS's NFL coverage, Cross called NBA basketball, track and field, and gymnastics at various times for the network. He stayed with CBS through 1994. 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. Cross served as

from 1996 to 1998. He then was the director of athletics at

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, 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 Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

' Fox station

KMSP-TV KMSP-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetw ...

. Cross was the 2009 recipient of the

– the award, given annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, recognizes "long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football." He was the first black person to receive the award.

Personal life

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 Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

in 2018. He suspected that the condition, along with his headaches, neck pain, and backaches, was a result of

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

(CTE) caused by the concussions that he had suffered during his playing career. He arranged to have his brain donated to the

Boston University CTE Center The Boston University CTE Center is an independently run medical research lab located at the Boston University School of Medicine. The Center focuses on research related to the long-term effects of brain trauma and degenerative brain diseases, speci ...

after his death. Cross died on February 28, 2021, aged 81, at a hospice in

North Oaks, Minnesota North Oaks is an exurban city north of St. Paul in Ramsey County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 4,469 at the 2010 census. Formerly a gated community that now posts private access signage, all land is owned by homeowners w ...

, near his home in Roseville. His cause of death was heart disease ( ischemic cardiomyopathy).

Publications

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Irv 1939 births 2021 deaths African-American players of American football American football cornerbacks American television reporters and correspondents American television sports announcers College football announcers Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Gymnastics broadcasters Idaho State Bengals athletic directors Los Angeles Rams players Macalester Scots athletic directors National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy alumni Northwestern Wildcats football players People from Roseville, Minnesota People with dementia Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award recipients Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Indiana Sportspeople from Hammond, Indiana Track and field broadcasters 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Deaths from cardiomyopathy