(August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015)

Francis Newton “Frank” Gifford was an American football player and television sportscaster widely known for his 13-year National Football League (NFL) career with the New York Giants, playing both offense and defense. Gifford participated in five NFL Championship games and eight Pro Bowls, and won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1956, the same season he won his only NFL Championship.

In 1977, Gifford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After retiring from the NFL in 1964, Gifford later became a commentator and play-by-play announcer for NFL games on CBS and most notably on ABC’s Monday Night Football. Gifford was married to television host Kathie Lee Gifford from 1986 until his death.

Gifford and his wife, television host Kathie Lee Gifford, were married on October 18, 1986, and lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, with their son and daughter, Cody Newton Gifford (b. March 22, 1990) and Cassidy Erin Gifford (b. August 2, 1993). The couple shared a birthday, August 16. They appeared together as hosts for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Gifford and his first wife, Maxine Avis Ewart, have three children, Jeff, Kyle and Victoria, and five grandchildren. Victoria married Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy Family. Gifford has an older sister and younger brother, Winona and Waine.

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.

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