1964 Philadelphia Gum Football Cards #131 Irv Cross (RC)

Irv Cross had a distinguishing career as both a successful professional football player and a pioneering sports broadcaster.

🏈 NFL Playing Career Highlights

Two-Time Pro Bowl Selection: He played cornerback and was named to the Pro Bowl twice (1964 and 1965) with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Nine-Year NFL Veteran: His playing career spanned nine seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles (1961–1965, 1969) and the Los Angeles Rams (1966–1968).

Two-Way College Player: At Northwestern University, he was a two-way player, seeing action at wide receiver, defensive back, and defensive end.

📺 Pioneering Broadcasting Career:

First African-American Sports Analyst on National Television: Cross became the first African-American to work as a sports analyst on national television when he joined CBS Sports in 1971.

Co-Anchor of The NFL Today: In 1975, he became an initial co-host of CBS's groundbreaking pre-game show, The NFL Today, alongside Brent Musburger and Phyllis George. This made him the first African-American to co-anchor a network sports program. The show's format set the standard for NFL pre-game coverage used by all networks thereafter.

**Pete Rozelle Award Recipient: In 2009, he was the first Black person to receive the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which recognizes long-time exceptional contributions to professional football on radio and television.

Extensive CBS Tenure: He spent a total of 23 years with CBS Sports (1971–1994), covering the NFL and other sports like NBA basketball, track and field, and gymnastics.

He also served as an athletic director at two universities, including Idaho State and Macalester College, later in his career.

Fun Fact: The Philadelphia Gum Company held the NFL license to produce cards for four years, from 1964 through 1967.

This is also the oldest football card in my football card collection.