Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, United States on August 16th, 1930 and is the Football Player. At the age of 84, Frank Gifford biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 84 years old, Frank Gifford has this physical status:
Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator.
He spent 27 years as a play-by-play announcer and commentator for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL), beginning with a 12-year playing career (NFL). In 1956, Gifford received the NFL Most Valuable Player Award from United Press International, the same year his team won the NFL Championship.
He appeared in five league championship games and was voted to eight Pro Bowls during his career.
In 1977, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Gifford, a retired actor, was an Emmy Award-winning sportscaster best known for his appearances on ABC's Monday Night Football, Wide World of Sports, and the Olympics.
He was married to television presenter Kathie Lee Gifford from 1986 to his death.
Early life
Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, son of Lola Mae (née Hawkins) and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller. He graduated from Kern County Union High School, which has now been named Bakersfield High School. Kathie Lee Gifford, her late husband's widow, said he grew up in a poverty-stricken house and that he and his family often ate dog food. Since his father could not find jobs during the Great Depression, she said they lived in 29 places before Gifford's high school. As a young child, she said that Gifford "called Jesus into his heart and stayed with him for the remainder of his life."
Personal life
On January 13, 1952, Gifford married USC homecoming queen Maxine Avis Ewart, who was pregnant when she was studying at USC. Jeff (B.): They had three children, Sam (b). Kyle and Victoria, 1952, and five grandchildren. Victoria Gifford married Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy's son. Frank Gifford was next married to fitness trainer Astrid Lindley from 1978 to 1986. He had two marriages that ended in divorce. Kathie Lee Johnson, a 23-year-old boy from Gifford, married television presenter and singer, on October 18, 1986. Cody Newton Gifford and daughter, Cassidy Erin Gifford, were married in Greenwich, Connecticut, where they lived. On August 16, Gifford and his third wife Kathie Lee shared the same birthday. The couple co-hosted ABC's coverage of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
Winona and Waine, Gifford's older sister and younger brother. In 1997, the tabloid newspaper Globe paid Suzen Johnson to visit, become aware, and lure Gifford into a New York City hotel room that was unintentionally furnished with videotape cameras enabling the Globe to capture and obtain pictures of Gifford being seduced. They're all about images and stories. ESPN said the tabloid charged Johnson $75,000 to lure Gifford to the room, although The Atlantic said it was $125,000. "There's a difference between reporting the news and producing the news," National Enquirer editor Steve Coz wrote. "There's a difference between reporting the news and making the news." [w]ithout The Globe would have no story here. I'm in the tabloid business, and this is way over the top. It's downright cruel."
Gifford's second wife Joanne, according to Henry Bushkin, a retired Johnny Carson lawyer, had an affair with Carson's second wife Joanne in 1970.
College career
Because of his low grade point average in high school, Gifford was unable to gain an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC). As a result, he played for Bakersfield Junior College for a season. While at Bakersfield, he was a member of the Junior College All-America team and obtained the academic credentials necessary to enroll in USC. After rushing for 841 yards on 195 attempts during his last season, Gifford was named an All-American at USC. He was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at Syracuse University. In 1952, he graduated from the University of California.
NFL career
Gifford spent his entire NFL career with the New York Giants, beginning in 1952, playing both offense and defense. He has appeared in eight Pro Bowl appearances and five times in the NFL Championship Game. Gifford's best season since 1956 may have been in 1956, when he received the league's Most Valuable Player Award and led the Giants to the NFL championship over the Chicago Bears.
He was hurt by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik in what is widely considered the worst defensive hit, or one of the worst in the National Football League's history, and is often referred to as The Hit. He was knocked out by Bednarik on a passing play during a November 20, 1960 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, suffering a serious head injury that caused him to leave football in 1961. However, Gifford returned to the Giants in 1962, transitioning from running back to flanker (now a sort of "wide receiver").
His Pro Bowl picks included defensive back, running back, and flanker. Following the 1964-19 season, he permanently retired.
During his 12 seasons with the Giants (136 regular-season games) Gifford had 3,609 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in 840 yards; he also had 367 receptions for 5,434 yards and 43 touchdowns. With six interceptions, Gifford completed 29 of the 63 passes for 823 yards and 14 touchdowns. The 14 touchdowns are the most in any non-quarterback in NFL history; the 6 interceptions are tied for most thrown by a non-quarterback with Walter Payton.
On July 30, 1977, Gifford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
An autopsy on his brain revealed he had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a condition closely related to repeated head injury. 87 percent of 91 former NFL players tested had been diagnosed with the disease by September 18, 2015.
Broadcasting career
After his playing days ended, Gifford became a CBS broadcaster, covering football, golf, and basketball. When ABC Night Football first appeared in 1970, the intention was to have Gifford in their broadcast booth, but the network has no years remaining on his deal with CBS. Rather, Gifford recommended Don Meredith, who had been hired. Keith Jackson was fired as Monday Night Football's play-by-play announcer the previous year, and the show has been on display for 27 years. His low-key delivery was a perfect counterbalance to broadcast rivals Meredith and Howard Cosell. The series grew to be one of television's most popular franchises in an age without three television broadcast networks, and it became one of television's most popular franchises.
Gifford played by play for the first Super Bowl game between the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins in Stanford, California, which will be broadcast on ABC, Super Bowl XIX. Don Meredith and Joe Theismann joined Gifford in the booth.
Al Michaels took over play-by-play duties in 1986, and Gifford transitioned to a color commentator role. However, Gifford continued playing by play for the next several years (Gifford was joined by Lynn Swann and O. J. Simpson on color commentary in 1986 and Dan Dierdorf for the remainder of his time on Monday Night Football) when Michaels was covering post-season baseball games on the network.
Gifford was first replaced in the broadcast booth by Boomer Esiason in 1998 after his affair with airline flight attendant Suzen Johnson in 1997. He was reassigned to a nominal role for ABC's Monday night pregame show, but the service was ended after one season. By the time, Gifford had not been given a new role. In 1986, Gifford appeared on British television network Channel 4's NFL coverage, which included coverage of Super Bowl XXI. In addition, he narrated the official Super Bowl XLVIII highlight film for NFL Films, for which he had narrated the New York Giants' annual highlight films.
Gifford worked as both a reporter and commentator on other ABC sports, including the tense men's basketball gold medal match between the United States and Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, which Gifford referred to alongside Bill Russell), skiing and golf. Evel Knievel made his career for ABC's Wide World of Sports in the 1970s, including when Knievel failed to clear 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in 1975. On occasion, Gifford appeared on Good Morning America, including once when he met his future wife Kathie Lee.
In 1977, Gifford received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality. The Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995 awarded Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Awards for his NFL television work.
On September 14, 2015, Monday Night Football paid tribute to Gifford by making ESPN announcer Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden wear the gold jackets that Gifford helped make famous as a broadcaster.