Very few people over the last few generations of football have had more of an impact on the game than John Madden. As a coach, as a broadcaster, and as the name on the most popular football-based video game ever, Madden seemed to have a hand in everything having to do with the NFL.
On Tuesday evening, the NFL announced that Madden passed away unexpectedly at age 85.
“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.
“Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”
Selected in the 21st round of the 1958 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive tackle, Madden had knee issues that prevented him from ever playing professionally. But as he was rehabbing his knee in the Eagles’ facility, he started watching film with quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, and his love for coaching became apparent. Madden went back to school, got a degree in teaching, and started his path as a coach. He worked with head coach Don Coryell as San Diego State’s defensive coordinator from 1964 through 1966, and was hired as the Oakland Raiders’ linebackers coach in 1967.
Following a fallout between Al Davis and head coach John Rauch, Madden was promoted to head coach of the Raiders before the 1969 season. In a 10-year stretch, Madden compiled a regular-season record of 103-32-7 (a .759 winning percentage) and a postseason record of 9-7. It took a while for the Raiders to appear in a Super Bowl, as Madden’s teams kept coming up just short against some of the greatest teams in pro football history in the postseason, but when the Raiders finally did make Super Bowl XI, they made it count with a 32-14 thrashing of the Minnesota Vikings. Madden’s Raiders lost six AFL or AFC championship games to the eventual Super Bowl winner.
Madden retired from coaching after the 1978 season, and went on to work with Pat Summerall and Al Michaels as a broadcaster at CBS Sports from 1978 through 1993, at FOX Sports from 1994 through 2001, at ABC Sports from 2002 through 2005, and at NBC Sports from 2006 through 2008. Madden’s genuine personality and love of the game, his over-the top expressions (“BOOM!”) and his knowledge of everything football made him one of the best color men in broadcasting history, regardless of the sport. Madden is the only broadcaster to work for all of the “Big Four” networks, and he won 16 Emmy Awards.
In 1988, Madden first lent his name and creative input to EA Sports’ NFL video game, and the Madden franchise became one of the best-selling in video game history.
Madden also compiled his “All-Madden” teams from 1984 through 2001, and players tended to consider that an equivalent or superior achievement to Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods. When asked what made a player eligible for the All-Madden teams, Madden once said this:
“What does it mean to be ‘All-Madden’? It’s a whole range of things. For defensive linemen and linebackers, it’s about Jack Youngblood playing with a busted leg, Lawrence Taylor wreaking havoc on the offense, and Reggie White making the other guy wish he put a little more in the collection plate at church. It’s about a guy who’s got a dirty uniform, mud on his face and grass in the ear hole of his helmet.”
Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the 2006 class.
Madden also wrote four books:
Hey, Wait a Minute: I Wrote a Book!
One Knee Equals Two Feet: And Everything Else You Need to Know About Football
All Madden: Hey, I’m Talking Pro Football!
Madden is survived by his wife, Virginia, and his sons, Mike and Joe.
