Irv Cross was the eighth child of fifteen in his family and things were always difficult growing up. Every child was expected to get a job as soon as they could. His father was an alcoholic, especially on Friday after he got his paycheck, and he would come home drunk and beat his mother.
That happened until the fifteenth child was born and his mother died giving childbirth. From that moment on, his dad never touched another drop of alcohol. Irvin always wondered if his dad felt guilty that somehow his beating her and getting her pregnant almost every year, had something to do with his wife dying.
Cross shares his life and how fortunate he was to become successful. He tells of his days at Northwestern University and is the first in his family to attend college. Then he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and spent nine years playing professional football. He was blessed to be named to two Pro Bowls during his playing years.
He retired from playing and snared a job as a coach for the Eagles. Then one day out of the blue, he got an opportunity that didn’t make sense to him and was one that he had no experience doing. He was hired as an analyst for CBS Sports.
He became the first African American to be a full-time sports analyst on national television. He was a natural that had a great smile. It was through this job that he inspired many other African Americans to look to sports for opportunities. He then joined NFL Today and worked with Brent Musberger, Phyllis George, and Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder getting fans prepared for football games. He was a recipient of the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. It is through his work, the people he has worked with and the friends he has made in his many journeys that Bearing the Cross gives you a good feeling about a fantastic person that never let people down in his life.
Be sure to pick up this inspiring book as it will give you a better understanding of what people with issues in life have to go through to make it in this world.
I would like to thank Sports Publishing for sending me the book in exchange for a fair and honest book review.
