39 Facts About Frank Gifford

Francis Newton Gifford was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator.

Frank Gifford won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award from United Press International in 1956, the same season his team won the NFL Championship.

Frank Gifford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

Frank Gifford was married to television host Kathie Lee Gifford from 1986 until his death.

Frank Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Frank Gifford, an oil driller.

Frank Gifford graduated from Kern County Union High School, later renamed Bakersfield High School.

Frank Gifford said they lived in 29 places before Gifford attended high school, because his father could not find work during the Depression.

Frank Gifford said that as a young child, the family attended church every week and Gifford "asked Jesus into his heart and that remained with him for the rest of his life".

Frank Gifford was unable to gain an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California because of his low grade point average in high school.

At USC, Frank Gifford was named an All-American after rushing for 841 yards on 195 carries during his final season.

Frank Gifford spent his entire NFL career with the New York Giants, beginning in 1952, playing both offense and defense.

Frank Gifford made eight Pro Bowl appearances and had five trips to the NFL Championship Game.

Frank Gifford lost 18 months in the prime of his career when he was tackled by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik in what is widely considered the hardest defensive hit, or one of the hardest, in the history of the National Football League and is often referred to simply as The Hit.

However, Frank Gifford returned to the Giants in 1962, changing positions from running back to flanker.

Frank Gifford completed 29 of the 63 passes he threw for 823 yards and 14 touchdowns with 6 interceptions.

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

Frank Gifford was providing play-by-play in the waning moments of a 1980 Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins when he and Cosell learned of John Lennon's murder.

On January 20,1985, Frank Gifford provided play-by-play for the first Super Bowl to be broadcast on ABC, Super Bowl XIX between the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins in Stanford, California.

Frank Gifford was joined in the booth by Don Meredith and Joe Theismann.

In 1986, Al Michaels took over play-by-play duties, and Frank Gifford switched to a color commentator role.

However, Gifford did play-by-play for the next several years whenever Michaels was covering post-season baseball games for the network.

Frank Gifford was 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.

Frank Gifford was a reporter and commentator on other ABC sports programs, such as coverage of the Olympics, skiing and golf.

Frank Gifford 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.

Frank Gifford guest hosted Good Morning America on occasion, including once when he met his future wife Kathie Lee.

In 1977, Frank Gifford won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality.

Frank Gifford was given the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award by the Pro Football Hall of Fame In 1995 for his NFL television work.

Frank Gifford appeared as Ensign Cy Mount in the 1959 World War II submarine film drama Up Periscope, starring James Garner, Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin, and Alan Hale Jr.

Frank 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 1977, Frank Gifford appeared as himself in the episode "The Shortest Yard" of the ABC sitcom The San Pedro Beach Bums.

Frank Gifford appeared as himself in a two-hour episode of The Six Million Dollar Man titled "The Bionic Boy" in the same year.

Frank 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.

Victoria Gifford married Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, son of Robert F Kennedy.

Frank Gifford was next married to fitness trainer Astrid Lindley from 1978 to 1986.

Frank Gifford married television presenter and singer Kathie Lee Johnson, who was 23 years his junior, on October 18,1986.

Frank Gifford had an older sister and younger brother, Winona and Waine.

The former lawyer of Johnny Carson, Henry Bushkin, claimed that Frank Gifford had an affair with Carson's second wife Joanne in 1970.

In November 2015, Frank Gifford's family revealed that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Frank Gifford is a character in Frederick Exley's novel A Fan's Notes.