Legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden’s death less than a week after FOX Sports aired a poignant documentary about his remarkable life, is a bit shocking to us all this morning.
Madden was 85 and had a full life, as it is custom to say, but what a life it was. He may have done more for the NFL than any other figure in its history. Perhaps more than George Halas, Peter Rozelle or even Vince Lombardi.
Those men laid the groundwork, but Madden took it from there and helped the league become not only the foremost sports entity in the world but the most popular sports/entertainment entity as well.
Madden’s legacy began as a coach with the Oakland Raiders in 1969. He went 103-32-7 over his decade-long tenure, winning Super Bowl XI over Minnesota in 1976. His teams were in the AFL/AFC Championship in eight of his ten years as head coach.
Madden retired after the 1978 season, vowing never to coach again — and he never did. He reluctantly went into broadcasting where he would turn not only the league, but the industry, on its head.
Madden’s unfettered style and ignorance to broadcast booth etiquette were a refreshing change to the staleness that had been evolving in sports broadcasting.
In an interview I did with the great Pat Summerall many years ago, I asked him about the first time Madden was assigned to him in the early 1980s. The beginning was a bit rocky.
“I didn’t know if he was going to make it or not,” Summerall said. “We were in Tampa, I think, and he sweated right through his shirt. I wasn’t sure what to make of him.”
Summerall added that Madden never sat down, standing the whole game like a coach would but was so demonstrative (and entertaining) that he eventually stepped out of his way and let him rant.
That formula went on to become the backdrop for many of the NFL’s biggest moments. 1980s and 90s was the era of the NFC East and “smash mouth” football. Madden ate it all up and spit it back out at the viewers in a way that mesmerized them.
The ground and pound style of Joe Gibbs’ Washington teams, the resurgence of the Giants under Bill Parcells, Buddy Ryan’s Eagles, the 49ers and 1985 Bears and then Cowboys with big bodies such as Nate Newton were right in Madden’s wheelhouse.
New York Giants fans had a front row seat to the Madden show. He loved Bill Parcells’ demeanor and approach. He loved Lawrence Taylor and would expound on his greatness, letting everyone know that we were watching something special.
Madden and Summerall would help document the greatest season in Giants’ history –1986 — covering their rampage through the NFC that year.
The Giants’ 49-3 dismantling of the 49ers in the Divisional round, their wind-swept 17-0 blanking of Washington in the NFC Championship Game and their monumental victory over Denver in Super Bowl XXI were all called by the iconic duo of Summerall and Madden on CBS.
I personally was present at all three games, but thanks to a new VCR I got that year as a Christmas present, I recorded all the action and viewed them all for many years after.
You can say that Madden and those Giants made each other. Or even better, were made for each other.
Summerall had been calling Giant games for years with other partners, most notably Tom Brookshier, and was the established top play-by-play man for CBS, who covered the NFC games back then.
Madden came along and the network was searching for the right fit for him. After splitting up Summerall and Brookshier, who had been running roughshod over the network for years with their after hours activities, they found a home for Madden with Summerall and he got the best out of Summerall — and everyone else he came in contact with — including the Giants.
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