Frank Gifford

Frank Gifford starred for the New York Giants during his Hall of Fame NFL career before becoming a successful broadcaster.

Born on August 16, 1930, in Santa Monica, California, Frank Gifford attended USC on a football scholarship. He played for the NFL's New York Giants for 12 years, winning MVP honors after leading the team to the championship in 1956. Following his NFL career, Gifford became a mainstay in the broadcast booth for Monday Night Football. He died on August 9, 2015, at age 84.

American football player and sports broadcaster Frank Gifford was born on August 16, 1930, in Santa Monica, California. The recipient of a full-tuition scholarship from the University of Southern California, he was selected by the NFL's New York Giants with the 11th overall pick of the 1952 draft.

Used at running back, defensive back and wide receiver, Gifford became the team's signature player for more than a decade. He was named to the Pro Bowl in every season from 1953-59, and voted the league MVP in 1956 after helping the Giants win the NFL title.

Gifford missed the entire 1961 season after suffering a concussion, but he returned in 1962 and earned his final Pro Bowl selection the following year. He retired after the 1964 season with 5,434 career receiving yards, which remained the team record until it was surpassed by Amani Toomer in 2003.

Even while an active player, Gifford worked as a sports broadcaster on radio and television, first on CBS, then ABC. From 1971 he became a regular on ABC-TV, with Monday Night Football and Wide World of Sports, as well as occasional specials. In 1977, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was honored with an Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality. He left Monday Night Football for good in 1998.

In addition to his broadcast work, the handsome athlete starred in the 1959 film Up Periscope, and appeared in such television shows as Captain Kangaroo and The Six Million Dollar Man. He also wrote or co-authored several books on football.

Frank Gifford married popular talk show host and singer Kathie Lee Epstein Johnson on October 18, 1986. The couple had two children, son Cody (b. 1990) and daughter Cassidy (b. 1993). Gifford also had three children with his first wife, Maxine Avis Ewart: Jeff, Kyle and Victoria.

Gifford died on August 9, 2015, just shy of his 85th birthday, at his home in Connecticut.

Gifford nació en Santa Monica, California. Después de graduarse de la escuela Bakersfield High School, Gifford no pudo ganar una beca atlética para poder estudiar en la Universidad del Sur de California (USC) debido a sus bajas calificaciones. Jugó un año en el Bakersfield College, llegando a ser seleccionado como Junior College All-American mientras lograba las calificaciones necesarias para enrolarse en USC.2 En USC, Gifford fue nombrado como All-America.

Comenzó su carrera en la NFL con los New York Giants jugando tanto a la ofensiva como a la defensiva, una rareza después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Llegó a ocho Pro Bowls y participó en cinco Partidos de Campeonato de la NFL, el antecesor del Super Bowl. la mejor temporada de Gifford tal vez fue la de 1956, cuando ganó el premio del MVP de la NFL, liderando a los Giants al título de la NFL sobre los Chicago Bears.

Perdió 18 meses en la parte más alta de su carrera cuando fue víctima de uno de los golpes mas brutales (aunque completamente legal en su época) en la historia de la NFL. Durante un partido de la temporada de 1960 en contra de los Philadelphia Eagles fue tackeado en su "lado ciego" por Chuck Bednarik en una jugada de pase, sufriendo una seria lesión en el cráneo que casi lo obligó a retirarse. Pero Gifford regresó a jugar con los Giants en 1962, cambiando su posición de running back a wide receiver (posición entonces conocida como flanker). A pesar de su forzoso descanso y tener que aprender una posición completamente nueva, volvió a brillar en la NFL.

Sus selecciones al Pro Bowl fueron en tres posiciones diferentes, defensive back, running back, y wide receiver. Se retiró finalmente en 1964, después de llegar a su último Pro Bowl como receptor.

Durante sus 12 temporadas con los New York Giants (136 partidos de temporada regular) Gifford acumuló 3,609 yardas por tierra con 34 touchdowns en 840 acarreos, y consiguió atrapar 367 pases para 5,434 yardas y 43 touchdowns. Gifford completó 29 de 63 pases lanzados para 823 yardas y 14 touchdowns.

Gifford fue electo al Salón de la Fama del Fútbol Americano Universitario en 1975 y al Salón de la Fama del Fútbol Americano Profesional el 30 de julio de 1977.