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Irv Cross, the former NFL defensive back who shattered a color barrier as the first African American to appear as a full-time TV sports analyst before co-hosting CBS’ The NFL Today for 14 years, has died. He was 81.
Cross died early Sunday morning near his home in Roseville, Minnesota, the Philadelphia Eagles announced. He played cornerback for that team for six seasons, including one year as a player-coach, and three with the Los Angeles Rams.
Following his retirement in 1970, he began a second career as a sportscaster, starting on the weekends in Philadelphia.
In 1971, the amiable Cross made history when CBS Sports hired him as an analyst and commentator. He later became a national fixture on Sundays in the fall as part of the inaugural crew on CBS’ The NFL Today; he worked on the show from 1975-89.
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Cross prided himself on physical play in the NFL, earning two Pro Bowl berths. His aggressive style led to several head injuries and in 2018, he told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he had been diagnosed with mild cognitive dementia.
Cross said that he planned to donate his brain to Boston University, hoping to further the study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain illness linked to concussions.
In his 2017 memoir, Bearing the Cross, My Inspiring Journey From Poverty to the NFL and Sports Television, he chronicled the racism and hard times he overcame in Hammond, Indiana, before earning a bachelor of science degree from Northwestern in 1961. (Cross was in the same graduating class as future NFL Today co-host Brent Musburger.)
“After I won the Male Athlete of the Year award [from Hammond High School], a couple of teammates took me to dinner to celebrate,” he wrote. “The first restaurant we went to wouldn’t let me in because I was black. The restaurant was right across the street from our high school. Of course, we found somewhere else to eat. But along with the happy thoughts of that evening, not being able to eat there is something that still sticks in my mind.”
The eighth of 15 children, Irvin Acie Cross was born on July 27, 1939, to a Hammond steelworker and his wife, who died in childbirth when Cross was 10.
A member of coach Ara Parseghian’s first recruiting class at Northwestern, Cross starred at football and track and field and was named the university’s Male Athlete of the Year as a senior before the Eagles, then the defending NFL champions, selected him in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL Draft.
In his rookie year, he became a starter when future CBS Sports colleague Tom Brookshier suffered a career-ending leg injury.
After five seasons in Philadelphia, Cross was traded to the Rams. When he returned to the Eagles in 1969 for his final season, he became a player-coach, helping to oversee Philadelphia’s defensive backs.
In 125 NFL games, Cross registered 22 interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. He also handled punts and kickoffs during his nine-year pro career.
Cross sustained so many injuries on the field, teammates began labeling him “Paper Head.” As a rookie, he was knocked unconscious while blocking on a punt return. He nearly swallowed his tongue and was given a stern warning that a subsequent blow to the head could prove fatal.
“So I had a helmet made with a little extra padding and played,” Cross told the Inquirer. “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.”
When Cross retired as a player, Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt offered him a job as the team’s assistant general manager, but he declined. Instead, he honed his broadcast skills in preparation for joining Musburger and 1971 Miss America Phyllis George as the original hosts of The NFL Today.
The program set the standard for pregame shows and was top-rated in its time slot, winning 13 Emmy Awards in its inaugural season before professional gambler Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder was added to the lineup in 1976.
“It felt like everybody was watching,” he recalled. “I don’t refer to myself as a ‘pioneer’ in television, but others do. But in 1975, when The NFL Today was launched, the sports TV landscape looked much different, much whiter. I never focused on that, but I was keenly aware that if I failed, it might be a long time before another black person got a similar opportunity.”
Cross took his analyst role seriously, helping explain pro football strategy, techniques and jargon in a way viewers could easily understand.
“I’ve been around all kinds of people, from every walk of life. I don’t know that I could give you one person who was nicer than Irv Cross. He was a constant gentleman,” Musburger said in a statement.
Early on, CBS execs suggested a change of wardrobe to reflect some of the flashy clothes worn by black characters in the 1972 movie Superfly. Cross balked.
“This guy took me to a department store and bought me a light-blue leisure suit, a loud, flowered shirt and a big gold chain,” he recalled. “I told him, ‘I don’t dress this way.’ That wasn’t my personality.”
After the 1989 season, CBS made major changes to The NFL Today lineup, firing Musburger and returning Cross to the booth as a game analyst. During his tenure with the network, he also covered track and field, gymnastics and the NBA.
Cross went on to serve as athletic director at Idaho State (1996-98) and Macalester College (1999-2005) in Minnesota, where he lived with his second wife, Elizabeth. He also served as CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his children, Susan, Lisa, Matthew and Sarah; grandson Aiden; brothers Raymond, Teal and Sam; and sisters Joan, Jackie, Julia, Pat and Gwen.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation or the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
In 2009, Cross became the first African American to win the Pete Rozelle Award, which recognizes “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and TV in professional football.”
“I’m old-fashioned,” he said. “The game means a great deal to me, and I have a high regard for the people who made pro football what it is today. I believe we should treasure, protect and preserve all that we can of the greatest sport in the world. I am humbled to have been selected as one of those in the radio-TV business to have had an impact on the game.”
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