RIP Irv Cross

[MileHigh]

Man, I can hear the NFL Today theme in my head right now.

"You're looking live at ..."

Hard to believe that was the grand-daddy of all pre-game shows. Before then, sports broadcasts would start with the lead announcer and color guy doing a quick intro and go right to the opening kickoff. Nobody really thought about "setting the scene" like NFL Today, checking in for a preview on every game and having a studio host and crew discuss and dissect the action. A woman? A bookmaker? A former player?

But it meshed so well and never really felt forced. Everybody knew their role and strengths. Perfect casting, in a way.

Sadly, every pre-game show has morphed into who can wear the most outlandish clothing and outscream the others, but at its peak, NFL Today was the gold standard.

And Irv was class. RIP.

 

[MileHigh]

Like others, I loved Irv. And the NFL Today at 9:30 a.m. on Channel 2 was appointment viewing for us. That 30 minutes will never be matched again.

RIP, Irv.

 

[mpcincal]

Like many others on this thread, I started following the NFL in the show's heyday, and I made sure to get up early enough to catch Brent and the crew before the games came on. I thought Irv Cross was pure class and cool and was the perfect counterpart to Jimmy the Greek's bluster and Phyllis George's up-close-and-personal stories. It was a perfect staff and Cross was the "football guy" in my eyes.

One incident I always remember was before Super Bowl XVIII when he was doing a sideline bit and noted Raiders front-office asshole Mike Ornstein kicked him and the crew off the sideline while the cameras were going. I always admired how Irv kept his cool during that whole thing, although to be honest I would have liked to have seen him drop the mic and take Ornstein down right there on national TV.

 

[maumann]

I can't figure out if "Raiders front-office asshole" is an oxymoron or only redundant. I know it was a badge of honor, right from Al on down. And there's a certain reciprocity about the Raiders eventually winding up in Sin City, because if there's ever been a town that sort of embodies the greasy, anti-establishment Al Davis, it would have to be Vegas.

The first time I saw the "Ocean's Eleven" remake, I saw the Terry Benedict character and immediately thought, "Holy crap! That's just a better-looking, better-dressed Al Davis!"

 

[exmediahack]

Brent now is the last one standing from The NFL Today

When I met Brent three years ago in Las Vegas, he was *very* much alive when I introduced him to my girlfriend.

RIP Irv Cross. A pioneer on a pioneering pregame show.

When my time is up, I want "Horizontal Hold", the theme song from The NFL Today 1976-82 to play as everyone sits down and before the first speech.

 

[goalmouth]

Jimmy the Greek was all of us when he took a swing at Mus.

 

[qtlaw]

Man, like others here, NFL Today was a benchmark of my youth. Cross brought on field credibility beyond George, Jimmy, and Brent. May he RIP.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I remember when the show was 30 minutes long, and it was considered a huge deal when they were going two hours for the Super Bowl.

It wasn’t until years later that I found out Cross was a former NFL player, and an excellent one at that. RIP