As he prepares for rookie NFL season, Charles Cross is already using his experiences to help others
Charles Cross, in hat, signs rookie photos for campers at the 2022 AD47 Leadership Academy with Omar Bayless, right. (Photo by Micah Green)
Four years and a fully guaranteed $21.38 million contract to go along with a $12.73 million signing bonus – that’s the contract former Laurel and Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross negotiated and signed on his own, without an agent this summer. The highest draft pick to go forward without representation, Cross said that the decision to go forward without an agent was centered on not spending unnecessary money.
“With the CBA (collective bargaining agreement), everyone is kind of slotted for what you will receive in your contract based on where you are picked,” Cross said. “With me, I just had the mindset that I could save money by representing myself in this first contract. It just felt like the smart decision.”
When Cross hasn’t been shucking pass rushers and paving the way for running backs at the Seahawks’ training camp, he’s been putting his free time to good use. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft is following in the footsteps of other former Laurel greats like Akeem Davis, Keon Howard, BoPete Keyes and Omar Bayless in paying his good fortune forward.
After his contract was settled and he was officially signed with the Seahawks, Cross spent his summer doing two things – working on his craft and lending a helping hand. Alongside Davis, Howard, Keyes, Bayless and a host of other prominent former local athletes, Cross coached at Davis’ eighth annual AD47 Leadership Academy in June. The Laurel-based camp is a hub for big-name athletes, like Cross, to give back to the community by touching the lives of nearly 100 campers each year.
Also at the camp was Tyrone Keys – a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears team. Keys is well-known for his philanthropy and serves as a mentor in that field to several former Laurel players, including Cross.
At the camp, Mississippi State walk- on running back Kione Roberson was there to assist with Keys. Roberson, a 5-foot-9, 185-pound running back from Cypress Hill High School in Wesley Chapel, Fla., wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school, but eventually earned an opportunity to walk on in Starkville after a strong senior year.
While at the camp with Keys, Cross noticed the work Roberson was put- ting into the camp on the hot summer day. After finding out that he was entering his freshman year at Mississippi State, Cross initiated a conversation at the camp and the two hit it off immediately.
“I didn’t know much of him at the time,” Roberson said. “I just saw this huge guy while we were both volunteering at the AD47 camp. He found out I went to Mississippi State, and it didn’t take me long to realize that he is a very humble and a very wise guy.
“With me being a college freshman, he has been a great resource for me. He started giving me advice on how college football works and how to be the best player I can be. Whenever we talk, it is always positive, and it is very comforting to talk to someone who recently went through some of the things that I went through. He’s been a great mentor, and we stay in regular contact.”
Keys is a constant source of advice and guidance for Cross as he ventures into his first year in the league, and after growing up seeing the achievements of Davis with the Memphis Tigers and later in the NFL, Cross is trying to pay his good fortune forward by guiding young athletes like Roberson whenever he can.
“Kione is a special guy,” Cross said. “He has the type of character that people look for when you get to the next level. He’s a guy who anyone could put their name behind, because he is that hard of a worker. He has what it takes to be successful at whatever he sets his mind to, and I am here for any advice or guidance he needs. His attitude is exactly what you're looking for.”
Keys knew that Cross would be a great resource for young players like Roberson as soon as he met him.
“When I met Charles, I knew this was the guy,” Keys said. “Along with Akeem (Davis) and all of the other guys from Laurel, they are starting a pretty special fraternity of athletes who are active in the community. The really good thing about that is Charles is the type of guy to spread that energy into other communities. The AD47 camp and giving advice to guys like Roberson are just a start for him. He’s going to be a special guy, on and off the field, for a long time to come. And that’s on top of all the hard work it takes to maintain a place in the league.”
Speaking of hard work, Cross has been doing plenty of that when he hasn’t been giving back. He immediately secured a starting position as the Seahawks’ left tackle and has already seen his first action in the preseason. But after having praise heaped on him for much of the summer, Cross was flagged four times for false-start penalties in last week’s preseason game with the Chicago Bears. Those mistakes don’t worry Cross too much, as he would rather have them now than in the regular season.
“It’s all a part of the process,” Cross said. “Mistakes happen like that so you can learn from them. It's something I will have to get dialed in. Luckily, they are small problems to fix. It’s all mental.”
Cross went up against Pro Bowler Robert Quinn for much of the night when playing the Bears. Even though the decorat- ed pass rusher has spent years in the NFL, nerves did not play a factor for Cross in his preseason debut – a good sign as he prepares to play in the brutal NFC West.
“We played in front of big crowds at Mississippi State and a lot of high-level players,” Cross said. “Nerves aren’t really the issue. I am still getting acclimated
to everything, but Coach (Pete) Carroll is always preaching that it is a part of the process too.”
Cross will make his regular-season debut against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 12 on ESPN'S Monday Night Football.
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