His Words Made Big Impact on Youngster

Howard Cross has played 13 seasons with the New York Giants as a tight end, having caught 201 passes for 2,194 yards and 17 touchdowns.

And what does he consider his career highlight?

It happened after a Monday night game a couple of weeks ago, when Fearon Wright, a Minnesota Viking rookie, caught up with Cross and said, “I just want to thank you for what you said at Project Able in Jersey City when I was in high school.”

That was in 1996. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Cross talked to Wright, then captain of the Ferris High team in Jersey City.

Said Wright, “He was the first pro athlete I ever met up close and when I heard him talk, I thought, ‘One day, I want to do what he’s doing.’ He was my role model.”

Cross told New York Times columnist Dave Anderson that hearing Wright’s thank-you was “the best moment of my career.”

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Trivia time: When was the last time neither a Pacific 10 nor a Big Ten team played in the Rose Bowl game?

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Comparisons: San Diego Union-Tribune writer Nick Canepa wasn’t impressed by rumors of Charger Coach Mike Riley becoming the new football coach at San Diego State.

“Filet mignon to hash,” he wrote. “It’s like George W. Bush leaving the presidency to become mayor of Crawford, Texas.”

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More Canepa: “You’ve heard of Miami of Ohio, the cradle of coaches? Welcome to San Diego State, the graveyard of coaches.”

Note: Canepa is a graduate of San Diego State.

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What do writers know? Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El was selected to the All-American first team by the Football Writers Assn. of America, but is not expected to make the All-Big Ten team. In conference play, Randle El ranked ninth in passing yardage and last in completions. He was sixth among Big Ten rushers.

Illinois’ Kurt Kittner, on the other hand, led the conference in passing and led the Illini to the Big Ten championship.

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Add what do they know? After Nebraska had suffered a 62-36 drubbing by Colorado, Adam Thompson of the Denver Post ranked the Cornhuskers ahead of Colorado.

“If the Buffs can’t pass the Huskers after putting 62 on them, why did they bother playing the game?” asked Jim Armstrong, also of the Post.

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Fair warning: The Denver Broncos’ John Mobley was fined $20,000 for grabbing Dallas’ Peppi Zellner by the face mask and throwing him face-first to the turf after a punt return for a touchdown by Cowboy Reggie Swinton. Mobley paid the fine but was not about to apologize.

“I’d do it again,” he told the Rocky Mountain News, contending that Zellner continued to throw blocks even after Mobley had conceded the touchdown.

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Trivia answer: It was 1919, when Great Lakes Navy defeated Mare Island Marines, 17-0. Future hall of famer and Chicago Bear Coach George Halas, a Great Lakes end, was the player of the game.

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And finally: U.S. luge racer Mark Grimmette is no dummy. When quizzed by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee as to his choice to light the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony at Rice-Eccles Stadium in February, he replied, “My girlfriend.”