Irv Cross, former NFL defensive back-turned-legendary CBS sports broadcaster, has been diagnosed with stage 4 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Boston University researchers announced Tuesday.
Cross died on Feb. 28, 2021, and had been previously been diagnosed with mild cognitive dementia dating back to ’18. Stage 4 of CTE is the most advanced stage and can only be diagnosed in a postmortem examination.
The two-time Pro Bowler sustained multiple blows to the head during his NFL career. When Cross was still alive, he experienced changes in his mood swings, depression, memory loss, maintaining balance as well as being in denial about the disease.
“Toward the end, he saw things that weren’t there,” his widow, Liz Cross, told the Associated Press. “He really didn’t want to be with people. “The only person he wanted to be with was me. When he was with me, he really didn’t want to be with me. He just wanted me to be there.”
Cross’s family donated his brain for research to the university and the UNITE Brain bank in the hope of increasing awareness about CTE. According to the Boston University’s latest CTE report, Cross is one of 345 former players diagnosed with the disease out of 376 who have been studied.
Cross became the first Black man to work as a full-time sports analyst on national television, widely remembered for his work on The NFL Today, the CBS pregame NFL show. He played nine seasons in the league, six with the Eagles and three with the Rams, recording 22 interceptions and 14 fumble recoveries.
