There are only a handful of times when the mortality of an extraordinary human being gives your life a pause. Irv Cross, who was not only a NFL legend, but was also an ingenious sports analyst, died at the age of 81 near his house in Roseville, Minnesota.
Born as the eighth child out of fifteen siblings, Irv had a difficult childhood. With his mother passing away due to childbirth at 10, he had to endure an abusive alcoholic father.
However, Cross exhibited educational prowess and was a promising basketball, track, and football legend at the Hammond High school. His determination, academic credibility, and sports talent gained him admission to the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. There he played defensive back, defensive end, and wide receiver for the Ara Parseghian between 1950 to 1960.
This ultimately paved his way to an astonishing NFL career spanning over nine seasons. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Cross in the seventh round, and he went onto spend five seasons with them, out of which the last two he was voted to a Pro Bowl. Then, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, where he played three seasons. His final season was back with the Eagles as a player cum coach in 1969. Later, he continued as an assistant coach in the year 1970.
After his remarkable football career, Cross went on the venture into the world of broadcasting. He became a CBS sports analyst in 1971. After four years, CBS took on a huge bet. They assembled a four-crew team consisting of Irv Cross, Phyllis George, Brent Musburger, and Jimmy Synder. And with that, Cross created history. He was the first Black anchor on the first-ever live pregame sports show, along with the first female as a co-sports anchor. The show was called The NFL Today.
Then, his role expanded, and he began to cover other sports and spent 23 years working with CBS. However, he left the channel in the year 1994. Then he picked up the role of an athletic director from the year 1996-1998 at the Idaho State University. After that, he again resumed the position of an athletic director for a period of six years at the Macalester College. He left the job in June 2005.
Thereafter, he became the CEO of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota. This lasted until 2010, when he again made a comeback to the world of football commentary for the ion KMSP-TV.
In 2009, Irv Cross was honored with the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which celebrates “long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.” This inducted him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When Cross was giving interviews for the marketing of his autobiography – “Bearing the Cross: My Inspiring Journey from Poverty to the NFL and Sports Television”, he spoke of suffering from cognitive dementia. He apparently also wanted to send his brains to the Boston University for conducting research on CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). This medical condition is common among NFL players. However, no official reason for his death was announced by his family.