John Madden: A Tribute

Last week, commentator John Madden announced his retirement from the broadcasting booth, putting an end to what has been a great career with the game of football.

To many, Madden's name right now is more synonymous with video games and impressions by comedian Frank Caliendo but for those that don't know, Madden meant so much more than that to football. We're going to take a look back at the life and career of Madden and see why he meant so much to the game of football and to fans as he did.

Madden's career can be traced back to his time Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he was an offensive and defensive lineman on the football team and a catcher on the baseball team.

Madden earned all-conference honors as an offensive tackle and played well enough in college to be selected in the NFL Draft, where he was picked 244th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.  A knee injury prevented Madden from ever playing a down in the NFL but he quickly got into coaching.

Madden's first head coaching job came two years after he started coaching when he took over the helm at Allan Hancock College in Santa Monica, California. Two years later, he was hired as a defensive assistant at San Diego State, where he served under the legendary Don Coryell.

Three years later Madden was hired by the Oakland Raiders as a linebackers coach and just two years after that, in 1969, Madden became the head coach of the Raiders. At the time he was 33-years-old, making him the youngest head coach in the history of the league, but team owner Al Davis believed in him and the move would pay off.

Madden served as the Raiders' head coach for ten years, where he posted an overall record of 103-32-7, won Super Bowl XI, and never had a losing season. His career winning percentage of 76.3 still ranks as the all-time best in the league. At the time, he also became the youngest coach to reach 100 wins.

Upon retiring from coaching in 1978, Madden decided to remain close to the game. He soon began his 30-year broadcasting career that saw him earn a number of accomplishments.

During his time as a broadcaster, Madden worked for all four of the big networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), was a member of the Monday Night Football crew, and called all types of games ranging from preseason to the Super Bowl. The only game he did not call was the Pro Bowl because his fear of flying prevented him from traveling to Hawaii.

For his work, Madden picked up 16 Emmy Awards and was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2002.

Madden became familiar to a new audience in 1988 when he decided to lend his name to a football video game produced by EA Sports. The game gained popularity in the 1990s, but saw most of its innovation occur after 2000 when it appeared on the Playstation 2 and Xbox consoles. Over 21 years, the game has sold more than 40 million copies and in 2006 it grossed more $100 million the first week after its release.

What endeared Madden as a broadcaster to the viewers and fans was his ability to relate to the average person. Madden was not trained or educated in broadcast journalism or broadcasting.

He often used words like "boom" and "bang" to illustrate his point and his use of a telestrator left a lot to be desired. But it didn't matter because he was able to relate the game in a way nobody before him had. He created the All-Madden team, which is a list of players he felt accentuated the way the game was supposed to be played.

In recent years, it has become common for people to make fun of Madden for the way he speaks on air, including his "Maddenisms" and constant references to former quarterback Brett Favre.

Most notably it is Caliendo, whose impression of Madden is accurate and funny, that most fans recognize. But while poking fun at Madden can be enjoyable we must not forget the lasting impression the man had on the game of football.

A former player, Super Bowl winner and Hall of Fame broadcaster, Madden was always at the pinnacle of the game. His presence will no doubt be missed.

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