A pro-bowl cornerback twice for the Eagles in a nine-year career, after being selected in the seventh round by Philadelphia after playing his college football at Northwestern, Cross broke down barriers for African-Americans in sports television with several "firsts" after leaving the Eagles coaching staff in 1971.
Cross became the first African-American to anchor in sports in 1970, was the first African-American to work as a commentator on games in 1971 when he moved to CBS, and would trailblaze in the studio in 1975 as part of the NFL Today with their legendary lineup with Brent Musberger, Phyllis George, and later Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder.
The popular Cross would return to commentating in 1990 when the NFL Today was revamped following the departure of Musburger from the network and would call games through 1994.
Cross would work as the athletic director at Idaho State and Macalester College before retiring.
Cross donated his brain to the CTE Center at Boston University for research after his death.
Goodbye to John Mendenhall at the age of 72.
Mendenhall was the best defensive player on the mostly-wretched New York Giants teams of the 1970s.
The Giants' third-round selection in 1972, Mendenhall was a rare defensive tackle that could reach the quarterback in the pocket as well as play the run.
After Mendenhall's rookie season, when the Giants finished 8-6, the Giants would never win more than six games through Mendenhall's tenure, and after Mendenhall would play one season (1980) with Detroit, he would retire.
Mendenhall played in the era before sacks were officially recorded, but I would wager he might have finished near one hundred sacks for his career.
The Giants highlight films during his career are filled with Mendenhall pushing aside a guard and sacking a quarterback and it makes me wonder just how many great defensive players aren't going to make the Hall of Fame because of the lack of official statistics for defenders in their time.
Goodbye to Mark Pavelich at the age of 63.
A member of the "Miracle On Ice" gold medal-winning hockey team in 1980, Pavelich had suffered from mental issues and had been judged mentally incompetent to stand trial after a 2019 assault on a neighbor with a piece of metal that gave the neighbor several broken bones.
Pavelich is suspected to have been suffering from CTE to cause his post-career issues.
Pavelich was the center that assisted on the game-winning goal scored by Mike Eruzione that would defeat the Soviet Union at Lake Placid and finished the Olympics with one goal and six assists.
In the NHL, Pavelich played in seven seasons with the first five with the New York Rangers, where Pavelich's best seasons were his first two when he combined for seventy goals and eighty-one assists over those two seasons.
Goodbye to Juan Pizarro at the age of 84.
Southpaw Pizarro won 131 games over his eighteen seasons in major league baseball but was expected to eventually be a top-of-the-line starter when he arrived with the Milwaukee Braves at age 20 in 1957.
Pizarro would win only twenty-three games in his four seasons with the Braves but blossomed after Milwaukee traded him to the Chicago White Sox before the 1961 season.
Pizarro would win fifty-nine games with the White Sox from 1961-64, including two All-Star appearances and nineteen wins in 1964, but following that season, injuries would take away his top form and send him to the bullpen for most of the remainder of his career for six teams.
Pizarro did have one moment of glory for the Cubs in 1971 in a September spot start, Pizarro shutout the Mets at Shea Stadium defeating Tom Seaver 1-0 when Pizarro homered off Seaver in the eighth inning for the Cubs only run.
It would be over 40 years before a pitcher would break up a 0-0 game with an eighth-inning or later home run when Clayton Kershaw accomplished the feat in 2013.
Goodbye to Joe Altobelli at the age of 88.
Altobelli played parts of three seasons for Cleveland and Minnesota but is better remembered for his managerial career when he managed three teams in the majors and managed the 1983 Baltimore Orioles to their last World Series championship.
Altobelli took over for Earl Weaver for the 1983 season and would remain with the Orioles until midway through the 1985 season when he was replaced by Weaver.
Altobelli would manage only one more game in the majors, a one-game interim stint with the 1991 Cubs.
While Altobelli's World Series title had to be the highlight of his career, his best job might have been with the 1978 Giants when he managed them to a surprising 89-73 record and a third-place finish in the National League West six games behind the eventual National League champion Dodgers.
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