Two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Coughlin reveals his wife's four-year battle with incurable brain disorder that has left her struggling to speak or move: 'Our hearts are broken'

Judy Coughlin, the wife of two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom, is bedridden with a brain disorder that has left her struggling to speak or move, her husband of 54 years revealed Tuesday.

In a guest piece for The New York Times, Tom opened up about his wife's absence from public life and described the experience of caring for Judy over the last four years as she battles progressive supranuclear palsy, an incurable brain disorder that affects patients' ability to walk, speak, and move.

'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,' Tom wrote.

Judy Coughlin, the wife of two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom, is bedridden with a brain disorder that has left her struggling to speak or move, her husband of 54 years revealed Tuesday. Judy, 76, has been a very visible part of her husband's public life, including his work with the Jay Fund, a foundation aimed at helping families battling childhood cancer. As 74-year-old Tom explained in his piece, it was Judy's absence from Jay Fund events that prompted questions about her whereabouts

The Jimmy Fund, the Coughlin's charity aimed at helping families battling childhood cancer, posted a quote from Tom's New York Times piece about Judy's health on Tuesday  

Head coach Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants celebrates with his wife Judy Coughlin after winning the NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers on January 20, 2008 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Giants defeated the Packers 23-20 in overtime to advance to the Super Bowl XLII

'After several years of doctors trying to pinpoint the disease that has been slowly taking her from us, Judy was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in 2020. It is a brain disorder that erodes an individual's ability to walk, speak, think and control body movements. It steals memories and the ability to express emotions and, sadly, is incurable.

'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.'

The couple has four children and 11 grandchildren, and lives in Florida, where Tom served as head coach, and later as an executive, for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also coached their daughter's husband, offensive lineman Chris Snee, at Boston College and with the New York Giants, where he won a pair of Super Bowl titles alongside his son-in-law.

'Judy and I, of course, are not alone in this. I want to apologize to my Elite Eight — our children and their spouses,' Tom explained. 'They have had to bear the brunt of my frustrations because of my inability to deal with all the emotions that pile up day after day. I know how difficult this has been for them, and I thank them for their patience.'

Pete Prisco, who previously covered Tom Coughlin with the Jacksonville Jaguars, reacted to the news on Tuesday: 'Judy Coughlin was always so kind fo me when I covered Tom -- no matter what. She stayed that way throughout Tom's years in the NFL at every stop'

Giants.com podcaster and media host John Schmeelk also reacted to news of Judy's illness

The New York Times' Bill Pennington remarked on the couple's efforts to help others 

Judy, 76, has been a very visible part of her husband's public life, including his work with the Jay Fund, a foundation aimed at helping families battling childhood cancer.

As 74-year-old Tom explained in his piece, it was Judy's absence from Jay Fund events that prompted questions about her whereabouts.

'Someone recently asked me why my wife, Judy, isn't in any of the photos from our Jay Fund Foundation events, and it was with a heavy heart that I had to explain,' Tom wrote. 

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, Kate Coughlin Snee and former player Chris Snee attend the 2014 Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation's 'Champions for Children Gala' at Cipriani 42nd Street on October 17, 2014. Snee played for Coughlin in New York and collegiately at Boston College 

'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.'

Coughlin also stressed the difficulties of caregiving — something he admits he isn't well suited for, but a job he insists on doing personally, nonetheless.

'I've spent my entire life preparing for some of the biggest games a person could play, but nothing can prepare you to be a caregiver who has to watch a loved one slip away,' he wrote.

The famously hard-nosed coach stressed that he is 'not seeking sympathy,' but rather hoped to impart a lesson.

'I do want the players I coached in college and in the NFL who thought all my crazy ideas about discipline, commitment and accountability ended when they left the field to know that is not the case,' he wrote. 'The truth is that is when those qualities matter most. A friend said we don't get to choose our sunset, and that's true, but I am so blessed to get to hold Judy's hand through hers.'

Tom and Judy Coughlin attend New York Philharmonic's Opening Gala Concert Celebrating the 175th Anniversary Season at David Geffen Hall on September 21, 2016 in New York City