Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player and television sportscaster. After a 12-year playing career as a running back and wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL), he was a play-by-play announcer and commentator for 27 years on ABC's Monday Night Football.

Gifford won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1956, the same season he won his only NFL Championship. During his career, he participated in five league championship games and was named to eight Pro Bowls. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977. After retiring as a player, Gifford was an Emmy Award-winning sportscaster on Monday Night Football. He was married to television host Kathie Lee Gifford from 1986 until his death.

Early life

Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae (née Hawkins) and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller. He graduated from Bakersfield High School.

College career

Gifford was unable to gain an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC) due to his low grade point average in high school, so he played a season of football for Bakersfield Junior College where he made the Junior College All-American team and earned the grades needed to enroll at USC. At USC, Gifford was named an All-American after rushing for 841 yards on 195 carries during his final season. He graduated from USC in 1952.

NFL career

Gifford spent his entire NFL career with the New York Giants, beginning in 1952, playing both offense and defense. He made eight Pro Bowl appearances and had five trips to the NFL Championship Game. Gifford's biggest season may have been 1956, when he won the league's Most Valuable Player Award and led the Giants to the NFL title over the Chicago Bears.

He lost 18 months in the prime of his career when he was laid out by a hard tackle. During a 1960 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he was knocked out by Chuck Bednarik on a passing play, suffering a severe head injury that led him to retire from football in 1961. However, Gifford returned to the Giants in 1962, changing positions from running back to wide receiver (then known as flanker).

His Pro Bowl selections came at three different positions—defensive back, running back, and wide receiver. He permanently retired following the 1964 season.

During his 12 seasons with the Giants (136 regular season games) Gifford had 3,609 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in 840 carries, he also had 367 receptions for 5,434 yards and 43 touchdowns. Gifford completed 29 of the 63 passes he threw for 823 yards and 14 touchdowns with 6 interceptions. The 6 interceptions is tied with Walter Payton for most interceptions thrown by a non-quarterback in NFL history, while the 14 touchdowns is also the most among any non-quarterback in NFL history

Gifford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 30, 1977.

Broadcasting career

After his playing days ended, Gifford became a commentator mainly for NFL on CBS. When Monday Night Football was launched in 1970, ABC had originally planned to have Gifford in their broadcast booth, but he still had a year remaining on his contract with CBS. Instead, he recommended his friend Don Meredith. The following year, Gifford replaced Keith Jackson as Monday Night Football‍‍ '​‍s play-by-play announcer, and he remained involved with the show for 27 of its first 28 years. His low-key delivery provided a perfect counterbalance to broadcast partners Meredith and Howard Cosell. In an era with only three television broadcast networks, the series became the longest-running prime-time sports program in television history, and developed into one of television's most valuable franchises. In 1986, Al Michaels took over play-by-play duties, and Gifford switched to a commentator role. However, Gifford did play-by-play for the next several years whenever Michaels was covering post-season baseball games for the network. After a controversial affair with airline stewardess Suzen Johnson, Gifford was replaced in the booth by Boomer Esiason in 1998. That season, he was reassigned to a nominal role for ABC's Monday night pregame show, but the program was cancelled after one season. Gifford was not offered a new role by the network. Gifford was also host of British TV network Channel 4's NFL coverage with British born former New England Patriots kicker John Smith in 1986, which included coverage of Super Bowl XXI.

Gifford was also a reporter and commentator on other ABC sports programs, such as coverage of the Olympics (including the controversial men's basketball Gold Medal game between the United States and Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich), skiing, and golf. He announced Evel Knievel's jumps for ABC's Wide World of Sports in the 1970s, including when Knievel failed to clear 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in 1975. Gifford also guest hosted Good Morning America on occasion, including once when he met his wife Kathie Lee.

In 1977, Gifford won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality. He was given the Pete Rozelle Award by the Pro Football Hall of Fame In 1995 for his NFL television work.

Acting roles

Gifford appeared as himself as a guest star on the NBC television series, Hazel, in the episode, "Hazel and the Halfback", which originally aired December 26, 1963. In the story, Gifford is interested in investing in a local bowling alley. In 1977, Gifford appeared as himself in the episode "The Shortest Yard" of the ABC sitcom The San Pedro Beach Bums. Gifford and his wife Kathie Lee appeared in the February 28, 1995, episode of the ABC sitcom Coach, titled "The Day I Met Frank Gifford", in which a character on the show plots to meet the former football star who will attend an event to receive an award.

Personal life

Gifford married his college sweetheart, USC's homecoming queen Maxine Avis Ewart, on January 13, 1952, after she became pregnant while they were students at USC. They have three children, Jeff (b. June 1952), Kyle, and Victoria; and five grandchildren. Victoria married Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy Family. Gifford was then married to fitness trainer Astrid Lindley from 1978 to 1986. The first two marriages ended in divorce. Gifford married television host Kathie Lee Gifford (née Epstein) on October 18, 1986, and they lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, with their son and daughter, Cody Newton Gifford (b. March 22, 1990) and Cassidy Erin Gifford (b. August 2, 1993). Frank and Kathie Lee shared the same birthday (August 16) and co-hosted ABC's coverage of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Gifford has an older sister and younger brother, Winona and Waine.

Controversies

In 1997, The Globe arranged to have Gifford secretly videotaped being seduced by former flight attendant Suzen Johnson in a New York City hotel room. They published photos and stories. ESPN reported that the tabloid paid Johnson $75,000 to lure Gifford to the room, while The Atlantic said it was $125,000. National Enquirer editor Steve Coz observed that "There's a difference between reporting the news and creating the news ... [w]ithout The Globe, there would be no story here. I'm in the tabloid industry, and this is way over the top. It's downright cruel."

According to the former lawyer of Johnny Carson, Henry Bushkin, Gifford had an affair with Carson's wife Joanne in 1970.

Death

On August 9, 2015, Gifford died from natural causes at his Greenwich home at the age of 84.

Awards and honors

College

• 1951 All-American
• College Football Hall of Fame (class of 1975)
• University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame (inaugural class of 1994)

NFL

• Eight-time Pro Bowl selection
• 1956 NFL MVP (as recognized by UPI)
• 1956 NFL Champion
• 1959 Pro Bowl MVP
• No. 16 retired by the New York Giants
• Pro Football Hall of Fame (class of 1977)

Television

• Two-time Emmy Award winner
  • 1977 - Outstanding Sports Personality
  • 1997 - Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1995 Pete Rozelle Award

In literature

Gifford is a character in Frederick Exley's novel A Fan's Notes. In the novel, Gifford becomes the narrator's hero while both are at USC. Subsequently, the narrator continues to be an intense fan of Gifford and his team, the New York Giants, during his NFL career.