JOHN MADDEN HAS HAD MORE IMPACT ON THE NFL MORE THAN ANYONE IN HIS LIFETIME
The National Football League announced late Tuesday night on its official Twitter handle the passing of Hall of Fame Head Coach and Sports Broadcaster John Madden at the age of 85.
John Madden served as Head Coach for the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, winning them their maiden Super Bowl title in 1977 at Super Bowl XI. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest head coach in NFL history at just 32 years old. His prolific coaching career earned him an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. In all his ten seasons with the Raiders, he never had a losing season and to this day, his win percentage is second all-time in league history.
After retiring from coaching, Madden dove into commentating for NFL telecasts until 2009; a career that spanned three decades where he worked as a color commentator for CBS (1979-1993), FOX (1994-2001), ABC (2002-2005), and NBC (2006-2008). Deservedly, his final game as a broadcaster was fittingly one of the more memorable Super Bowls in the past quarter of a decade – Super Bowl XLIII, a 27-23 thriller between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. John Madden called an illustrious 11 Super Bowls, eight alongside iconic partner Pat Summerall, winning 16 Emmy awards in the process.
Most of the younger generation of NFL fans would probably only be aware of John Madden from the popular EA Sports/ Electronic Arts video game, Madden – a video game adaptation of the NFL that has been around ever since the former all-conference honors college offensive tackle lent his voice, personality, and name to the video game series in 1988. There’s already a petition online for EA to put Madden on the next Madden cover, Madden 23.
Following the news that he had passed on, the Pro Football world immediately sent their condolences to John Madden’s family with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell leading the way. “On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe, and their families,” said the NFL Commissioner. “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.”
Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement, “The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Coach Madden. Few, if any, have had as great an impact on the sport of professional football on so many different levels as Coach Madden. He was first and foremost a coach. He was a coach on the field, a coach in the broadcast booth, and a coach in life.”
“He was dearly loved by millions of football fans worldwide. While it’s a very sad day, it’s also a day we should celebrate the life of a man who brought joy through the game of football to millions.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Coach Madden’s wife, Virginia; their sons, Joe and Mike; and the entire Madden family during this difficult time. The Hall of Fame will forever guard Coach Madden’s legacy. The Hall of Fame flag will be flown at half-staff in his memory.”
John Madden’s .759 is the highest winning percentage in NFL history for a coach that has won over 100 games with his Oakland Raiders going an incredible 103-32-7 during his tenure. The Raiders said the following on the passing of Madden, “The Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of the legendary John Madden. Few individuals meant as much to the growth and popularity of professional football as Coach Madden, whose impact on the game both on and off the field was immeasurable.”
“In 2006, Madden was presented for enshrinement to the Pro Football Hall of Fame by Al Davis, who opened his speech by calling Madden, “A brilliant coach. A loyal and trusted friend. A Raider. The thoughts and prayers of the Raider Nation are with Virginia, Joseph, Michael, and the entire Madden family at this time.”
Current NFL players also paid tribute to the legend that brought us the Thanksgiving turkey and the turducken with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson saying, “An absolute legend & football icon. Thank you for impacting the game we love. #RIPJOHNMADDEN”. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said, “Rest in peace to a legend! Prayers to the Madden family.”
NFL legends and Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Troy Aikman also sent their condolences with the Hall of Fame wide receiver saying, “A coaching and broadcasting legend and loved by all. You will be missed. RIP John Madden.” Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current NFL Network sportscaster Troy Aikman said, “John Madden was a treasure. He was a gift. And he was an incredible friend.”
With the condolence messages and the entire Pro Football world reminiscing on the nostalgic moments shared with John Madden, FOX Sports 1’s First Things First co-host Nick Wright said regarding the former Philadelphia Eagles draftee, “I think you can make a very strong argument that John Madden is more responsible for the growth and popularity of football than any other single human being of his lifetime. Every step of his career, he found a way to grow the game even bigger…”
“Coaching the Raiders, then the broadcasting career…called Super Bowls on all four of the networks, which will never be done again by anybody. He is unquestionably the greatest color commentator in the history of American sports, for any sport. He found a way for his infectious love of football to transcend the screen. Football is a complicated, complex game and he could explain complex topics in such basic accessible language, with such enthusiasm. He and Pat Summerall was the soundtrack of me learning football.”
New England Patriots Bill Belichick spoke to the media on Wednesday ahead of their Sunday game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and also took some time to talk about the great John Madden. “It’s a huge loss for the NFL and professional football,” Belichick said. “John is just a tremendous person to be around. I think we all, probably, set out to try to have a good professional career. John had about five of them. He set the standard for coaching in his era. They had the best record, best teams, championships, and all that. Raiders had a great style of play that was very, I’d say, captivating. He, certainly, did a lot for the league and the competitiveness of the league. He was a great champion for minorities and minority scouting. Some of the great players that they had with the Raiders from the smaller black colleges, he and [Al] Davis brought into the organization.”
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero