Tom Coughlin reveals wife Judy diagnosed with 'uncommon brain disorder' in gut-wrenching essay

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Tom Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach with the New York Giants and former Jacksonville Jaguars executive, revealed in a gut-wrenching essay his wife, Judy, is battling a brain disorder.

Coughlin, 74, made the revelation Tuesday in The New York Times. He wrote Judy was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in 2020. According to the Mayo Clinic, the illness is an "uncommon brain disorder that causes serious problems with walking, balance and eye movements, and later with swallowing" and can worsen over time.

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"For the past year, I’ve been torn between protecting my wife’s dignity and privacy and sharing some deeply personal and sad news. It’s only after some reflection that I’ve come to the conclusion that what my family and I are experiencing may be helpful for others to read," he wrote in the paper.

"As so many of you are gearing up for another NFL season, I will be sitting far from the sidelines, at the bedside and holding the hand of my biggest supporter, my beloved wife, the mother of our children and a grandmother to our grandchildren."

He wrote seeing his wife’s decline has been tough to watch and admitted that going from the front office of an NFL team to primary caregiver for his wife hasn’t been an easy transition.

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"Our hearts are broken. Judy has been everything to our family. For the past four years, we’ve helplessly watched her go from a gracious woman with a gift for conversation, hugging all the people she met and making them feel they were the most important person in the room, to losing almost all ability to speak and move," he wrote.

"She used to enjoy planning family get-togethers, going for morning walks and caring for her rosebushes; however, those activities are but distant memories. Her days are now filled with lying in bed, watching the Hallmark Channel, sitting in a wheelchair in the sun and receiving round-the-clock care. And what’s worse, she is trapped inside a body that will not allow her to be the person she was."

Coughlin was fired by the Jaguars before the start of the 2019 season. It was unclear when exactly his wife was diagnosed with the brain ailment.

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He and his wife have four children and 11 grandchildren. Tom and Judy Coughlin have been married since 1967.