Jeffery Allen Cross was the 238th pick of the ‘88 draft (ninth round!) for the Dolphins, coming out of Missouri. He was a three-sport star at Palo Verde High School (Cal.), and the 6′4″, 270 lb. Mizzou Tiger played all four defensive line positions in college. He was invited to the Blue-Grey All-Star game and was All-Big Eight the year he was selected.

Once on the Dolphins, he became a fixture, and would spend his entire career in aqua. In six of those seasons he started all 16 games, and started a total of 107 out of a possible 128. He notched double-digit sacks in three of those years, and finished with a respectable 59.5 for his career. He added 10 FF, 7 FR to go with the sacks, and even grabbed an INT (in ‘94).

His best season was ‘90, notching 11.5 Sacks, 60 Tkl, 3 FF and 2 FR, earning a Pro Bowl berth and second-team All-Pro honors. On opening day @ New England, Jeff got 2 Sacks, and in Wk 5 against the Jets in Miami he notched 2 more.

He played for us at a time where Buffalo was routinely the AFC’s best, and the Colts were still in the East. He was overshadowed a bit by John Offerdahl, who was our best defensive player of that time, but he was one of my favorites.

“Blast from the Past V: Jeff Cross”

by David Grotefend