NFL icon John Madden has passed away at the age of 85. There has never been any in the history of the NFL that has had the impact like Madden on and off the field. He was a legend as a coach. He was a legend as a broadcaster. He was a legend in video games with Madden NFL, or as when I was a kid, John Madden Football.
John Madden was born John Earl Madden in Austin, MN on April 10, 1936. He attended Jefferson High School in Daly City, CA and attended college at Cal Poly. Drafted with the 244th pick in the 21st round by the Philadelphia Eagles, Madden would never play in an NFL game. Not to worry, we know how his NFL career would end up and it was iconic.
Madden won Super Bowl XI as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders and finished his NFL coaching career, all with the Raiders, 103-32-7 for a 76.3% winning percentage. He never had a losing season as a head coach. Amazing. The coach was a flat-out winner. However, he would become, to me anyway, a bigger legend in the booth calling games and in the video game world.
In 1979 Madden joined CBS Sports launching his iconic broadcasting career. He would remain at CBS until 1993. In 1994 he joined Fox Sports, which I most remember he for, as he teamed up with the great Pat Summerall. In my opinion, that was the greatest play by play team in NFL history. Being a Cowboys fan, I got to see them call many Dallas Cowboys games.
Everyone will probably remember him most as the face of EA Sports Madden NFL, which still bears his name to this day, and I highly doubt it will ever change. Madden NFL the name is just like Chuck Taylor shoes. Chuck Taylor died in 1969 but everyone remembers his shoes 50 plus years after his death. The same will be said about Madden video games. Everyone wanted to play with the All-Madden team even though it was unfair to do when playing against your best friends.
John Madden you are an absolute legend, and we will never forget you. Rest easy and keep praising Brett Favre like you did in the broadcast booth. God has one hell of a broadcasting team in heaven to call NFL games in Pat Summerall and now John Madden.
