Howard Cross III
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Paramus, New Jersey, U.S.
 Cross talking to press ahead of the 2025 CFP National Championship. | |||||
| No. 95 – Cincinnati Bengals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | July 31, 2001 Paramus, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||
| Listed weight | 285 lb (129 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school | Saint Joseph Regional (Montvale, New Jersey) | ||||
| College | Notre Dame (2019–2024) | ||||
| NFL draft | 2025: undrafted | ||||
| Career history | |||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Howard Edward Cross III (born July 31, 2001) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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
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 ESPN after eight weeks of the 2023 season.[10]
Statistics
| 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
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | 4.63 s | 7.41 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) | 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) | 24 reps | ||||
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[11][12][13] | ||||||||||||
On May 9, 2025, Cross signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent after going unselected in the 2025 NFL draft.[14] Reuniting him with defensive coordinator Al Golden who was his defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. He was waived on October 3 and re-signed to the practice squad four days later.[15][16]
Cross signed a reserve/future contract with Cincinnati on January 5, 2026.[17]