Randy Cross

Background

Cross, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, attended Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California.

Education

Cross, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, attended Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California. He was renowned as a high school shot put champion in the Southern California CIF during the years 1970–1972. In 1972, he was CIF California State Meet champion in the event, defeating future world record holder Terry Albritton and future World Wildlife Fund wrestling star Jim Neidhart both from Newport Harbor High School in the process.

He heaved the 12 pound high school shot 67" 6.5" which remains the Crespi school and stadium record.

Career

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in July 2011. At University of California, Los Angeles, Cross was an All-America selection. As a senior he helped lead his team to the 1976 Rose Bowl championship over top-ranked Ohio State.

Cross began his career as a Center, but was moved to Right Guard for his junior year before playing both Guard and Center as senior on a rare rotating nine man offensive line.

On this rotating line Cross started at RG on the 1st unit and then moved to Center when the next group hit the field He was named First-team All-America in 1975.

He was also a First-team All-Conference selection in 1975 In his career he was a starter in 28 of 34 career games including his final 23. Randy Cross (and many other University of California, Los Angeles linemen) also played collegiate rugby for the school.

Randy was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

In 1976, Cross was selected in the second-round of the NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. His 13-year career included six All-Pro selections, three Pro Bowl selections and three Super Bowl championships (Bachelor of Science XVI, XIX, XXIII). Cross" last game as a player was Super Bowl XXIII in 1989.

Randy played center from 1976-1978 then guard from 1979-1987 before finishing his career in San Francisco at center in 1988.

Upon his retirement after Super Bowl XXIII, Randy joined the Miller Lite All Star"s cast making a series of popular commercials for the brewing giant. In addition, he served as an analyst for Columbia Broadcasting System Radio Sports" coverage of Super Bowl XXIV. Cross left Columbia Broadcasting System (following their loss of the NFC package to Fox) to join National Broadcasting Company Sports as a football analyst for NFL telecasts and a part-time analyst for Notre Dame football games.

In 1998, he returned to Columbia Broadcasting System Sports as a game analyst before serving as a studio analyst on The NFL Today from 1999-2001. He eventually returned to his game analyst duties in 2002.

He co-hosts shows also on the Sirius NFL Radio.

In 2009, he also became the color analyst for United States Naval Academy home games on Columbia Broadcasting System College Sports television He is also formerly the lead color commentator for New England Patriots pre-season games, from 1995 to 2012 alongside Don Criqui. Randy was a co-host of the midday show "Rick and Randy" with Rick Kamla on WZGC 92-9 The Game a Columbia Broadcasting System radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. before being released from the station. Oldest daughter Kelly graduated from University of Georgia and currently works for Levick Strategic Communications in Washington, District of Columbia Youngest daughter Crystal recently graduated from Auburn University with a degree in BioMedical Science.

Son, Brendan, played football for University of California, Los Angeles after transferring from Wake Forest University.

His father, Dennis Cross (1924–1991), was an American actor, who had the lead role in the syndicated adventure series The Blue Angels (1960–1961).

Achievements

• He was renowned as a high school shot put champion in the Southern California CIF during the years 1970–1972. In 1972, he was CIF California State Meet champion in the event, defeating future world record holder Terry Albritton and future World Wildlife Fund wrestling star Jim Neidhart both from Newport Harbor High School in the process.

Membership

From 1989-1993, Cross was a member of the Columbia Broadcasting System Sports team that covered the NFC playoffs and Super Bowl XXVI.