The longest-tenured commentator in the history of Monday Night Football has died.
Longtime ABC Monday Night Football broadcaster Frank Gifford died Sunday morning, according to a statement from the Gifford family released through Kathie Lee Gifford‘s employer NBC News. He was 84, one week shy of his 85th birthday.
Outside of Howard Cosell, perhaps nobody was more affiliated with Monday Night Football than Gifford. He spent more than a quarter-century with the franchise, starting as a play-by-play voice in 1971 and ending in the studio 27 years later. The only other MNF broadcaster to last at least 20 seasons with the franchise was Al Michaels.
Gifford’s most recent role with Monday Night Football came during the 2010 season, when he provided vignettes before each telecast in honor of the series’ 40th anniversary.
(Sun. news from Variety)
