CINCINNATI (WKRC) – While Bengals undrafted free agent defensive tackle Howard Cross III has an NFL pedigree that comes from his father, Howard II, who played 13 seasons with the New York Giants, it was another former Giants player from whom he draws inspiration.
After his playing career, Howard II served as a sideline reporter for Giants radio broadcasts and one of the players his father got close to was wide receiver Victor Cruz, who burst onto the NFL scene in 2011 after making the Giants as an undrafted free agent signee in 2010. Cruz had 82 receptions for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns in 2011, followed that up with 86 catches for 1,092 yards in 2012 when he earned a spot on the NFC Pro Bowl team and had another good season in 2013 before injuries robbed him the rest of his career.
Cross said he can hear Cruz’s message to undrafted free agents constantly running through his head.
“The clip I think they play now for any undrafted free agent on any team is (Cruz saying), that you will get a chance,” said Cross III. “You’re never going to come to a team and just sit and watch, you’ll get a chance. It doesn’t matter if it’s 30 reps or one rep, but when you get that chance you show out.”
The 6-foot-1, 285-pound Cross III has done just that in training camp and even got some reps with the first team on Tuesday.
“I feel like for any undrafted rookie free agent to get noticed like that or even have a chance like makes you feel proud,” said Cross III. “When I first came here I was getting like two or three reps. I wanted to make sure every one of those two or three counted.”
He has certainly caught the eye of Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
“He does it how you want them to do it,” said Taylor. “You just watch the guy doing his best to play with the technique and helping the defense and kind of doing his 1/11th over there to make plays and impact the offense and allow others to make plays by just doing your job. The life of a D-tackle is not always a sexy life. Sometimes you’re trying to take on two blocks and hold those two blocks so your backer can make a play or end can make a play. He has shown the ability to do the things that we’re asking those guys to do – do the dirty work and do it how we want it done. That’s a positive thing. He’s gotten a lot of reps due to guys missing long-term practice, missing short-term practice. He’s been a guy that’s been available and has gotten a lot of opportunity.”
Cross III had a successful career in college at Notre Dame where he started 35 games and played in 66, but after a great 2023 season in which was selected Associated Press second team All-American with 66 tackles, seven for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles, he missed three games due to a left ankle sprain and wasn’t anywhere near as productive.
His NFL.com draft profile graded him as a “priority free agent,” and said of him: “Undersized even-front nose tackle whose 2023 tape is so disruptive that it could draw the focus for teams creating his projection. He’s small but plays with leverage and a twitchy discard when playing fast. He’s a nuisance when allowed to stunt or slant but gets rolled out of the gap by power if the opposition catches him flush. He’s a problem as a rusher with loose limbs and sudden feet to work both edges. He is talented in getting by blockers at the junction point and heating up the interior. Some of the production dropped in 2024, but he might be a fun sub-rush piece as a late or undrafted backup nose tackle in a one-gapping scheme.”
Cross III admitted it hurt not getting drafted, but he signed with the Bengals in part because of Taylor’s history of giving undrafted free agents a legitimate shot and in part because his defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Al Golden, was hired as Bengals defensive coordinator.
“I came back for another year (at Notre Dame) and then I was hurt and then I just happen to be in a draft where the most D tackles were drafted ever,” said Cross III. “I was upset, but then at some point you realize you have the same chance as everyone else. That’s what matters. At the same time I have a chip on my shoulder, but I’m getting opportunities and it’s up to me. I’m confident in my abilities, I’m confident in my growth. Every practice and every game you play like your job is on the line, because it is. It’s not a bad thing, that’s just how it is. That’s why the guys at the top are the guys at the top is because they’re consistent. Consistency is the name of the game.”
He said he has been aided by new defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery’s tough coaching style, too, and likened it to his defensive line coach at Notre Dame, Al Washington.
“They’re very technical and hold me to the highest standard possible,” said Cross III. “Every single thing – while it can’t be perfect, it better be damned near perfect. I love that in a coach. I want a person to hold me to a high standard and gets in my ass to keep pushing me. I really appreciate that and that’s going to help me get better.”
While turning to football would seem natural because of his father, Cross III said he grew up playing other sports in addition to football, because his father never pushed it on him.
“Growing up my dad was very adamant that you can do whatever you want that’s not MMA, UFC, karate, any hand-to-hand combat sport,” said Cross III. “Outside of that you can do anything else. If you want to play tennis, you want to play soccer, you want to play baseball, go ahead. I was a multi-sport kid growing up. I was really, really good at baseball and for some reason amazing at tennis. In high school, I played some lacrosse and a little baseball, but I figured out that I was actually playing well in football and my first (scholarship) offer was in football, I kind of steered myself that way.”
Now he’s trying to make it his livelihood, just like his dad did.
“I feel good right now,” said Cross III. “There’s always stuff to improve and always stuff to get better at. I just need to continue to be coachable, accountable and consistent. Be available, and when you do get an opportunity make sure you make the most of it. I’ve had my moments like any undrafted free agent, where it’s like, ‘I don’t know.’ Every football player knows after the first snap, it’s, ‘OK, I get it now.’ Keep playing, keep improving and do my thing.”