Howard Cross

Photo courtesy of University of Alabama

Drafted in the third round by the New York Giants, Cross played in a franchise-record 207 games across 13 NFL seasons.

Suddenly, Howard Cross felt a tug.

Looking down at his pants leg, the 6-foot-5 once and forever Giant could see the excitement surging in the eyes of his friends’ seven-year-old son.

“Big Howard! Big Howard!” the little boy pleaded, still yanking. “It’s time! It’s time!”

Grinning big, Cross politely excused himself from the holiday small-talk and followed his young friend to the basement of the large, festively decorated house in a wooded area of suburban New York, where the television was blaring.

Because it was time.

When Mark Ingram’s name was called, the basement flooded, hugs and high-fives all around as all those New Yorkers interrupted their Christmas cheer to join the man from Alabama in celebrating the Crimson Tide’s first Heisman Trophy winner.

Then he was overwhelmed by a different sort of tug.

“Like all Alabama people, I felt tremendous pride. Was very, very moved. Such a cool thing,” recalled Cross, a native of New Hope who was an All-SEC tight end for the Crimson Tide in the 1980s before embarking on a 13-year career with the New York Giants. “It was an especially happy moment for me because I remembered Mark as a little kid in the [Giants’] lockerroom…running around with his dad [former Giant Mark Sr.]. So, so proud to see how far he had come…and see my old school accomplish something new.”

In that moment, like so many others, Cross felt a strong bond to Alabama football and the role it played in his life.

“There’s a brotherhood that’s hard to describe,” he said. “Guess that will always be a part of who I am.”

A devastating blocker for teams coached by Ray Perkins and Bill Curry, Cross was presented with the Jacobs Award, emblematic of the SEC’s best blocker, during his senior year of 1988. Even though the Alabama offense only sparingly utilized the tight end as a weapon, Cross recorded 41 career receptions for 459 yards and four touchdowns.

“The thing I remember most about Howard is what a hard worker he was,” Perkins said. “He was constantly pushing himself to become a better player.”