Frank Gifford (1930-2015) Tribute List

Frank Gifford, New York Giant football star and Monday Night Football commentator died on August 9, 2015 at the age of 84. Gifford, both during his football career and in the broadcast booth, helped define the notion of the football celebrity and make football the national pastime and huge industry it has become. Gifford is also famous for being married to media personality Kathie Lee Gifford, and for being immortalized as the object of the author's obsession in Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes. Here are eleven vocabulary words from quotes by Gifford and about him from Exley's novel.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bumpkin
    a person who is awkward, uncultured, or unsophisticated
    People remember Don[Meredith]being a country bumpkin, which he wasn't, and Howard[Cosell] being a pain in the [butt], which he was. I was the law and order.
  2. conviction
    an unshakable belief in something without need for proof
    Oh how sweet it is to hear one's own convictions from another's lips.
  3. lumber
    move heavily or clumsily
    If you had to win a game, it's a toss-up between Steve Young, John Elway and Dan Marino, ... Steve had that one unique quality of scrambling away from pressure, John would lumber for the first down and Dan had an unbelievable arm. It was never over when Steve was on the field; he had the unique ability to do things that were almost impossible. He could lift the entire team with his ability alone.
  4. testy
    easily irritated or annoyed
    We spent a lot of time together on Sunday nights before a Monday night game, ... He was always very forthcoming with his information. Some players were testy and tough to deal with...
  5. copious
    large in number or quantity
    They were very uptight. [Colts wide receiver] Raymond Berry had been thinking about writing the book himself so he kept some really copious notes. He shared all that with me.
  6. bombastic
    ostentatiously lofty in style
    Howard [Cosell] was the elitist New York know-it-all, the bombastic lawyer Middle America loved to hate.
  7. inordinate
    beyond normal limits
    I cheered for him with such inordinate enthusiasm, that after a time he became my alter ego, that part of me which had its being in the competitive world of men; I came, as incredible as it seems to me now, to believe that I was, in some magical way, an actual instrument of his success. Each time I heard the roar of the crowd, it roared in my ears as much for me as him; that roar was not only a promise of my fame; it was its unequivocal assurance.
    — Fredrick Exley, A Fan's Notes
  8. unequivocal
    admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding
    I cheered for him with such inordinate enthusiasm, that after a time he became my alter ego, that part of me which had its being in the competitive world of men; I came, as incredible as it seems to me now, to believe that I was, in some magical way, an actual instrument of his success. Each time I heard the roar of the crowd, it roared in my ears as much for me as him; that roar was not only a promise of my fame; it was its unequivocal assurance.
    — Frederick Exley, A Fan's Notes
  9. quizzical
    perplexed
    [He gave me] a quizzical look, a most ingratiating smile and most amiable hello...With that smile, whatever he meant by it, a smile that he doubtlessly wouldn't remember, he impressed me, in the rigidity of my embarassment that it is unmanly to burden others with one's grief.
    —Frederick Exley, A Fan's Notes
  10. ingratiating
    capable of winning favor
    [He gave me] a quizzical look, a most ingratiating smile and most amiable hello...With that smile, whatever he meant by it, a smile that he doubtlessly wouldn't remember, he impressed me, in the rigidity of my embarassment that it is unmanly to burden others with one's grief.
    —Frederick Exley, A Fan's Notes
  11. amiable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    [He gave me] a quizzical look, a most ingratiating smile and most amiable hello...With that smile, whatever he meant by it, a smile that he doubtlessly wouldn't remember, he impressed me, in the rigidity of my embarassment that it is unmanly to burden others with one's grief.
    —Frederick Exley, A Fan's Notes
Created on Sun Aug 09 15:22:27 EDT 2015 (updated Fri Aug 21 10:11:21 EDT 2015)

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