Irv Cross, former NFL star and analyst who died in 2021, had CTE

PHILADELPHIA — Irv Cross was a man of faith and devout fan of football who, in his final years, could no longer attend Bible study or watch NFL games with friends. The degenerative brain disease that festered inside the former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback had triggered depression, mood swings and the type of memory loss that forced him into isolation.

«He really didn't want to be with people,» said his widow, Liz Cross. «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, a former NFL defensive back who became the first Black man to work full time as a sports analyst on national television, is the latest football player diagnosed with the brain disease CTE. Cross, who was 81 when he died Feb. 28, 2021, suffered from stage 4 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Boston University researchers said Tuesday.

Stage 4 is the most advanced stage of CTE, showing the kind of damage that often causes cognitive and behavioral issues in those exposed to repetitive head trauma. He struggled physically with his balance and was paranoid.

«Toward the end,» Cross said, «he saw things that weren't there.»

Cross said her husband, who was diagnosed with mild cognitive dementia in 2018, often sat in a chair and grimaced from headaches that weren't going away. He declined any kind of medicine because it didn't help the pain. He stopped going to church. Once a student of the game, NFL games were mostly background noise because he didn't know who was playing.

«He was afraid someone would ask him a question,» Cross said, «and he wouldn't know the answer.»

Irv Cross, of course, was not alone in misery among his former NFL brethren. According to its latest