Frank Gifford, a talented, versatile football player who made a seamless transition from the NFL to sportscasting, died Sunday at his home in Connecticut. He was 84.
Gifford, married to television personality Kathie Lee Gifford, died of natural causes, according to a statement from his family.
For all his success as a football player, first at USC, then with the New York Giants — and that success was considerable, leading to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 — Gifford later became more famous for his low-key role as the even-handed play-by-play announcer on “Monday Night Football,” counterbalancing the pontificating Howard Cosell, the hayseedy Don Meredith, the bombastic Alex Karras and all of the others who traipsed into and out of the ABC booth for the weekly pro football ritual.