Randy Cross was a rising freshman switching from a public school to a private high school. His father Dennis told him to go out for football to make friends before school began.
The rest of the story will be revisited Tuesday night, when Cross is inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in New York. Cross, who lives in Alpharetta, will be honored for his play as a UCLA guard and center from 1973 to 1975.
"This is quite an honor," said Cross, 56, who will be inducted with Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, former Alabama coach Gene Stallings and the late Pat Tillman, among others.
Cross was the strength of a Bruins' offensive line that generated one of the best rushing attacks in the country. As a sophomore in 1973, he helped the Bruins rush for 4,403 yards in a 11-game season. The Bruins were 24-7-3 in his career and he was a first-team All-American in 1975. That season, UCLA upset No. 1 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl 23-10.
Cross, who won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, now does TV and radio work in both pro and college football. He said that when the hall of fame announcement was made in May, people reacted to it as though his pre-NFL days had never happened and that he was "hatched fully grown as a pro." Cross, of course, knows a little better.
"I wouldn’t have traded it for anything," he said.
Cross is just the 13th player or coach in UCLA history to receive the honor. He said a handful of his old coaches, including Pepper Rodgers, Terry Donahue and Dick Vermeil, will be at the National Football Foundation award ceremonies dinner, along with his wife Patrice. The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., has its own enshrinement ceremony next July, and it could be the last before the hall opens its new building in Atlanta in 2013.
"I think it's fabulous," Cross said of the move. "No offense to South Bend, but (only) NBC and the Fighting Irish fans go through South Bend."
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
