The longtime cornerback and announcer Irv Cross died Sunday near his home in Minnesota, the Philadelphia Eagles announced.
He was 81.
The Eagles are saddened by the death of Irv Cross.
– Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 1, 2021
Cross spent nine seasons in the league from 1961-69, only with the Eagles after picking him up in the seventh round of the 1961 series. Cross played his first five seasons in the NFL with the Eagles before starting a brief three-year stint with the Los Angeles Rams in 1996. He then returned to Philadelphia for one final season before retiring in 1969.
Cross picked up 22 total interceptions and during his career repaired 11 obstacles and nodded Pro Bowl in 1964 and 1965.
Cross made the leap to CBS Sports in 1971 as an NFL analyst, appearing only four years later with Brent Musburger, Phyllis George and Jimmy Snyder on The NFL Today Predictive Program. Cross was the first anchor in the black network for sports, another historic first for the show – as George was also the first woman to do so.
‘I was with different kinds of people, from all walks of life. “I do not know that I could give you one person who was more beautiful than Irv Cross,” Musburger said via the Eagles. “He was a constant gentleman. ”
Cross was in the lead for 14 years and at CBS for 23. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009 as the Pete Rozelle Award.
Cross later served as athletic director at Idaho State and Macalester College, and as executive director of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Central Minnesota and Love Inc.
He is survived by his wife, Liz, and their four children.
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