Former CEO for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota and Pro Football Player Irv Cross Dies

(KNSI) – The former CEO for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota, Irv Cross, has died.

Cross graduated from Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy with future broadcasting colleague Brent Musburger before being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1961.

Musburger issued a statement calling Cross “one of the finest gentlemen I’ve been with,” saying he was his “go-to mainstay on The NFL Today,” and that “No one ever had a bad thing to say about Irv.”

Cross played with the Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams before moving on to work for CBS Sports, becoming the first Black man to be a TV sports analyst. He was also co-host of “The NFL Today.”

CBS Sports has also issued a statement calling Cross a “pioneeer who made significant contributions to the storied history and tradition of CBS Sports.” The statement from CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus added that Cross was a “true gentleman and a trailblazer in the sports television industry and will be remembered for his accomplishments and the paths he paved for those who followed.”

He eventually left television to serve as Athletics Director at Idaho State and Macalester College in St. Paul.

Cross was diagnosed with a mild form of dementia in 2018.

He died at his home near Roseville Sunday night. He was 81.