Frank Gifford Francis Newton " Frank " Gifford ( born August 16 , 1930 ) is a former American football player and American sportscaster . Early life . Gifford was born in Santa Monica , California , the son of Lola Mae ( née Hawkins ) and Weldon Gifford , an oil driller . After graduating from Bakersfield High School , Gifford was unable to gain an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California ( USC ) due to his low grade point average . Undeterred , he played a season for Bakersfield Junior College , making the Junior College All - American team while making the grades needed to enroll at USC . At USC , Gifford was named an All - American athlete and player and graduated in the class of 1952 . In 1951 he ran for 841 yards on 195 carries . NFL career . He began his NFL career with the New York Giants by playing both offense and defense , a rarity when platoon football became popular after World War II . He made eight Pro Bowl appearances and had five trips to the NFL Championship Game . Gifford ' s biggest season may have been 1956 , when he won the Most Valuable Player award of the NFL , and led the Giants to the NFL title over the Chicago Bears . He lost 18 months in the prime of his career when he was laid out by a hard tackle . During a 1960 game against the Philadelphia Eagles , he was knocked out by Chuck Bednarik on a passing play , suffering a severe head injury that led him to retire from football . However , Gifford returned to the Giants in 1962 , changing positions from running back to wide receiver ( then known as flanker ) . Despite his long layoff and having to learn a new position , he became a star once again . His Pro Bowl selections came at three different positions — defensive back , running back , and wide receiver . He retired again , this time for good , in 1964 , after making the Pro Bowl as a receiver . During his 12 seasons with the New York Giants ( 136 regular season games ) Frank Gifford had 3 , 609 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in 840 carries , he also had 367 receptions for 5 , 434 yards and 43 touchdowns . Gifford completed 29 of the 63 passes he threw for 823 yards and 14 touchdowns with 6 interceptions . The 6 interceptions is tied with Walter Payton for most interceptions thrown by a non - quarterback in NFL history , while the 14 touchdowns is also the most among any non - quarterback in NFL history Gifford once appeared as himself as a guest star on the television series , Hazel , in the episode , " Hazel and the Halfback " , which originally aired December 26 , 1963 . In the story , Gifford is interested in investing in a local bowling alley . Gifford was officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 30 , 1977 . Gifford is a Board Member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy , which is named after Ronnie Lott and is given annually to college football ' s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year . Broadcasting career . After his playing days ended , Gifford became a commentator mainly for NFL games on CBS . His big break came in 1971 when he replaced Keith Jackson as play - by - play announcer on ABC ' s " Monday Night Football " , joining Howard Cosell and Don Meredith , and would continue on as a commentator until 1997 , amid controversy regarding an affair he had with airline stewardess Suzen Johnson . In 1998 , he was given a reduced role on the pregame show . After that , Gifford left " Monday Night Football " . During the 1980s , Gifford would fill - in for Al Michaels ( who had replaced Gifford on play - by - play in 1986 ) on play - by - play whenever Michaels went on baseball assignments for the League Championship Series ( 1986 and 1988 ) or World Series ( 1987 and 1989 ) . Gifford was also host of British TV network Channel 4 ' s NFL coverage with British born former New England Patriots kicker John Smith in 1986 - 1987 . Non - football assignments . Gifford also served as a reporter and commentator on other ABC programs , such as their coverage of the Olympic Games ( perhaps most notably , the controversial men ' s basketball Gold Medal Match between the United States and Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich ) , skiing , and golf , and has guest hosted " Good Morning America " on occasion . He met his wife Kathie Lee while filling in as " GMA " host . In 1995 , he was given the Pete Rozelle Award by the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his NFL television work . He also 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 . In 1995 , Gifford and his wife Kathie Lee appeared on an episode of ABC ' s sitcom Coach starring Craig T . Nelson . The episode , entitled " The Day I Met Frank Gifford , aired February 28th 1995 , and featured Gifford accepting an award in New York , during which the uncouth defensive coordinator of the Minnesota State Screaming Eagles Luther Horatio Van Dam ( Jerry Van Dyke ) plots to find a way to meet the former football star . Throughout the show , Luther recounts a college game he played against Gifford in which the star USC runningback knocked out one of Luther ' s teeth as he attempted to tackle the All - American star . Luther subsequently sent the tooth to Gifford many years later , with Gifford remembering the " Tooth Guy " as a " real sicko . " Family . Gifford and his wife , television host Kathie Lee Gifford , were married on October 18 , 1986 , and live 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 shares the same 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 . Affair . 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 . Frank Gifford in literature . Frank Gifford is a character in Frederick Exley ' s novel " A Fan ' s Notes " . In the novel , Gifford becomes the narrator ' s hero while both are at USC . Subsequently , the narrator continues to be an intense fan of Gifford and his team , the New York Giants , during his NFL career .