Frank Gifford (1930-2015) R.I.P.

courtesy of Sports Illustrated
(click his name for full obituary)

Frank Gifford

(1930-2015)

Frank Gifford poses during a photo shoot on Aug. 11, 1959. The NFL Hall-of-Famer and former sports broadcaster passed away Sunday. He was 84. Gifford played running back, receiver and defensive back for the New York Giants in his NFL career, which spanned from 1952-1964. In 1956, he was named league MVP and led the Giants to an NFL championship. He sat out the 1961 season after a suffering a head injury, but returned in 1962 and won Comeback Player of the Year. Gifford was an eight-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro. (John G. Zimmerman for SI)

R.I.P. "Dandy" Don Meredith

Today we learned of the death of football and television legend Don Meredith at the age of 72.
He was in his prime on ABC's Monday Night Football when I was just beginning to watch MNF on a regular basis. My dad really enjoyed him calling the games and really got a laugh when Don would start singing the Willie Nelson song "The Party's Over" when a game was locked up by one team.
I remember being amazed when my dad told me how good a QB Don Meredith was and how he had played in 2 NFL championship games against the Green Bay Packers before retiring. That just didnt seem possible that a guy that good on TV had been an NFL QB and was good at that too.

They have never been able to replace him on MNF as they bumble through one announce team after another on different networks. They caught lightning in a bottle with Don, Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford.