Howard Cross III
| Cross talking to press ahead of the 2025 CFP National Championship. | |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish – No. 56 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive tackle |
| Class | |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (2001年07月31日) July 31, 2001 (age 23) |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Saint Joseph Regional (Montvale, New Jersey) |
Howard Edward Cross III (born July 31, 2001) is an American college football defensive tackle for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Early life
[edit ]Cross was born in Paramus, New Jersey [citation needed ] and attended Saint Joseph Regional High School, where he was a state-champion wrestler.[1] He committed to play college football at the University of Notre Dame.[2]
College career
[edit ]As a freshman in 2019, Cross totaled seven tackles in four games.[3] In the shortened 2020 season, he recorded 13 tackles.[3] In week 12 of the 2021 season, Cross notched two sacks in a win over Georgia Tech.[4] He finished the season with 22 tackles with 4.5 being for a loss, and three sacks.[5]
In week 2 of the 2022 season, Cross recorded 11 tackles with half a tackle being for a loss in a loss to Marshall.[6] He finished the season with 33 tackles with 2.5 going for a loss, two sacks, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble.[7] Cross earned the starting nose tackle spot ahead of the 2023 season.[8] In week 5 of the 2023 season, he tallied 13 tackles with 3.5 going for a loss, a sack, and two forced fumbles in a win over Duke.[9] Cross was named a midseason All-American,[by whom? ] after eight weeks of the 2023 season.[10]
Statistics
[edit ]| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
| 2019 | Notre Dame | 4 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Notre Dame | 12 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Notre Dame | 12 | 2 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | 12 | 7 | 33 | 14 | 19 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | 13 | 13 | 66 | 28 | 38 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | 13 | 13 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 66 | 35 | 169 | 80 | 89 | 11.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Professional career
[edit ]| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+3⁄8 in (1.86 m) |
285 lb (129 kg) |
32+1⁄4 in (0.82 m) |
10+1⁄2 in (0.27 m) |
29.0 in (0.74 m) |
8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) | |||||||
| All values from NFL Combine [11] [12] [13] | ||||||||||||
Personal life
[edit ]Cross is the son of former New York Giants tight end Howard Cross.[14] He has a twin sister, Bella.[15]
References
[edit ]- ^ Nevils, JC (October 13, 2023). "image caption Midseason Stock Report: Tyler Baron, Howard Cross III, and the Top Draft Risers of 2023". Mike Farrell Sports. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Pope, LaMond (April 22, 2018). "Notre Dame adds 4-star defensive lineman Howard Cross III to 2019 class". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ a b "Howard Cross III College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Clark, Geoffrey (November 20, 2021). "Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech: Fourth-Quarter Analysis". Fighting Irish Wire. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ "Howard Cross III 2021 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Burlage, Todd (September 10, 2022). "Game balls: Five players who starred for Notre Dame in the loss to Marshall". On3.com. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ "Howard Cross III 2022 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Berardino, Mike. "'Fast-Hands Howard' Cross has been a hard-to-block revelation for Notre Dame football". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ "Analysis: Ailing Howard Cross III lifts Notre Dame football past Duke". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Driskell, Bryan (October 17, 2023). "Audric Estime, Joe Alt and Howard Cross Earn Midseason All-American Honors". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ "Howard Cross III Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ "2025 NFL Combine Measurements by School: Heights, Weights, Hand Sizes, and More". CollegeFootballNetwork.com. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ "Howard Cross III College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ Cooper, Darren. "Notre Dame-bound Howard Cross III, of St. Joseph, not held down by family name". North Jersey.com. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Stephenson, Creg (December 31, 2020). "Howard Cross: Alabama-Notre Dame will be 'pretty cool'". al.com.