Everyone in the world has heard of John Madden, and he one of the most recognizable people in the NFL. Not only was he a brilliant head coach for a long time, he was also one of the best commentators. He also has one of the best video games that has ever been made; also one of the longest running video games of all-time. He has appeared in commercials, appeared in movies, and written books. All in all he is an NFL legend on the field and off the field.
John Earl Madden was born on April 10th, 1936 in Minnesota. His father was an auto mechanic and at a young age he re-located the Madden family to California. John attended Jefferson High School and graduated in 1954. John was a pretty good football player in high school; and he also played college football at Oregon and College of San Mateo before he transferred to Cal Poly. John played on both offense and defense and he graduated with a BS in English and an MA in Education. As an offensive tackle he earned All-Conference honors, and he also played catcher for Cal Poly’s baseball team. In 1958 he was drafted in the 21st round by the Philadelphia Eagles. When he attended training camp he blew out his knee which made it so he never actually got to play in the NFL.
In 1960 he became an assistant coach for Allan Hancock College, and was later promoted to head coach. In 1963, he was hired to be the defensive assistant at San Diego State and stayed there until 1966. At San Diego State he was recognized for being a good coach and in 1967, Al David gave him a shot to coach in the NFL. Al David hired Madden as a linebacker coach and that year the Raiders reached the Super Bowl. In 1969, Madden was named to be the Raiders head coach. Madden really was the best thing to happen to the Raiders. The Raiders had a bit of a curse though, Madden would guide his team to the playoffs, but they would lose in the Divisional game or the Championship game. The Raiders reached 5 AFC title games in 7 years and lost them all. In 1976, it all changed for the Raiders. They finished the regular season 13-1 and beat the Patriots and Steelers in the playoffs. They finally made it to the Super Bowl and beat the Vikings to give coach Madden his first Super Bowl.
When Madden retired he was the youngest coach to ever reach 100 carrer regular season wins, and he was 42. He is still the winning-est coach on Raider history. As a head coach he never had a losing season as well. Combine his regular season and playoff games and he is ranked 2nd in the NFL for wins.
After retiring from coaching he started working for CBS and in 1981 he was paired up with Pat Summerall. They worked great together and they ended up calling 8 Super Bowls together. In 1994, Madden was working for FOX, and he was still working with Summerall. He decided to get away from FOX and decided to be the commentator for ABC’s Monday Night Football with Al Michaels. In 2005, Madden also was working with NBC Sunday Night Football; which made him the only sportscaster to work for all Big Four networks. In 2009, Madden officially announced his retirement after 30 years of broadcasting.
Madden was also known for his Thanksgiving specials. During the game he would bring out a huge turkey and feed the MVP’s of the game. Most people know this, but Madden had a fear of flying, so he drove everywhere he went. He would either drive or take the train to every game he announced. Even though he has had his hands in a lot of things, he is really most recognized for John Madden Football Game. The first game came out in 1988 and his initial vision for the game was to help teach people the game of football. The game is now a cultural icon, where people will buy the new Madden as soon as it gets released. It was fun to have John Madden in the NFL for so long, and I think I speak for most when I say this; we miss him.
Football Junkie 