He passed away today at 84 years old.
I think he had a damned good life and I know I enjoyed his part in my life, hearing him on so many sports broadcasts over 30 or 40+ years.
RIP Mr. Gifford.
One of my treasures is “Frank Gifford’s 1967 CBS NFL Book” in which the much younger Mr. Gifford gives information about all the teams in the league, their rosters, plays, and other valuable information.
I don’t normally like book dedications, because they’re usually for someone the author personally knows, but Gifford’s is different:
“Dedicated to all the centers, guards, and tackles, who do all the work, get all the headaches, and read about all the ‘heroes’.”
He was one of the triumvirate, along with Dandy Don and Howard Cosell, who made Monday Night Football so great. This wasn’t said about Gifford, but Cosell, but because they were there together, Meredith said, “He never forgets a friend. Big deal. He’s only got two.” Of course Mr. Gifford was one of them.
I only wish I’d seen him play, but I did watch many, many games he broadcast. What a pro.
I liked the scene in the movie about Monday Night Football where the people in the truck are betting if he will identify Dennis Thurman of the Dallas Cowboys as Thurman Munson
Frank, Howard, and Dandy Don were a Mon night staple throughout my junior high and high school years. A great team that really knew how to keep a lopsided game interesting.
Frank also did ABC Wide World of Sports. I vividly remember him at one of Evil Knievel’s jumps. He wiped out and Frank was interviewing him. I think Frank covered several of Knievel’s jumps. But that one sticks in my mind because it nearly killed him.
I recall when He and Kathy Lee announced they were having a baby. Frank was in his sixties. I wondered then if the kid would have enough time to know his daddy as he grew up. But Frank was always active and lived long enough to see both those kids grow up and even finish college.
my deepest condolences to Kathy Lee and her kids. RIP Frank.
Yep, Frank was classic, along with Dandy Don and Howard.
Today’s absolutely lame compared to what it was in those days.