John Madden: From the Gridiron to the Broadcast Booth and Beyond

John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 - December 28, 2021) was a multifaceted American figure, leaving an indelible mark as a professional football coach, sports commentator, television personality, best-selling author, and philanthropist. His career spanned decades, earning him accolades as a player, coach, and broadcaster. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the California Hall of Fame in 2010, and he received 16 Emmy Awards for his work as a television commentator.

Early Life and Education

Madden was raised in Daly City, California, where he excelled as a high school football player. After high school, Madden continued his education at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. As a Mustang, Mr. Madden played both offense and defense on the football team and was a catcher for Cal Poly's baseball team. It was during his time at Cal Poly that he met his wife Virginia, who also earned a master's in education in 1961. Mr. Madden earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1959, and his master's in education in 1961 both from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Madden was selected as Cal Poly's Honored Alumnus in 1975 and inducted into Cal Poly's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987. Madden also attended the College of San Mateo.

Madden became interested in coaching after a knee injury cut short his professional playing aspirations. While rehabbing, he studied films with quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, which sparked his passion for coaching.

Coaching Career

Allan Hancock College and San Diego State University

After his playing career was cut short, Madden turned to coaching. In 1960, he became an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. He was promoted to head coach in 1962. Madden went 12-6 in two seasons, including an 8-1 mark in 1963, during which his Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 nationally among city colleges. Following the 1963 season, he was hired as a defensive assistant coach at San Diego State, where he served to 1966. He contributed to the Aztecs' first undefeated season and a No. 1 national ranking and taught in the physical education department for two years before his skills led him into the National Football League.

Oakland Raiders

Building on that success, Madden was hired by Al Davis as linebackers coach for the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1967, putting him in the Sid Gillman coaching tree. He helped the team reach Super Bowl II that season. In 1969, at the age of 32, Madden was named head coach of the Oakland Raiders, becoming one of the youngest head coaches in NFL history.

Under his leadership, the Oakland Raiders never experienced a losing season. Madden's first Raiders squad went 12-1-1 in 1969 but lost 17-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last-ever American Football League Championship Game. In 1976, the Raiders went 13-1 in the regular season and escaped the first round of the playoffs with a dramatic and controversial 24-21 victory over the New England Patriots. In their third straight battle with the Steelers in the AFC Championship game, Madden's Raiders finally defeated their nemesis 24-7 to reach Super Bowl XI.

The pinnacle of his coaching career came in 1977 when he led the Raiders to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. Over his ten seasons as head coach, Madden achieved a record of 103 wins, 32 losses, and 7 ties, holding the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who coached at least 100 games. Madden stepped away from the Raiders following the 1978 season having never had a losing record in his 10 seasons as head coach.

Broadcasting Career

Following his retirement from coaching, Madden transitioned to broadcasting in 1979, joining CBS as a color commentator. After working lower-profile contests during his first years, he was elevated to CBS's top football broadcasting duo with Pat Summerall in 1981, replacing Tom Brookshier. He would team with the likes of Vin Scully and subsequently, Verne Lundquist. On their final CBS telecast together, the 1993 NFC Championship Game on January 23, 1994, Madden told Summerall that while CBS may no longer have the NFL, at least they have the memories.

Madden's unique and enthusiastic style quickly made him one of the most popular and recognizable voices in sports broadcasting. His obvious enthusiasm for the sport appealed to even the most casual fans. In 1994, when Fox gained the rights to NFC games, leaving CBS without an NFL television deal, CBS employees became free agents. Madden was the biggest star in football broadcasting. Fox, ABC, and NBC made offers higher than the $2 million a year maximum for sportscaster salaries. NBC's owner General Electric (GE) offered to make Madden its "worldwide spokesman", and GE Rail would build him a luxury train. After he almost joined ABC, Madden and Summerall, along with Producer Bob Stenner and Director Sandy Grossman-known as the football broadcasting "A Team"-helped establish Fox's NFL coverage, Madden and that group gave Fox credibility to broadcast what Rupert Murdoch called "the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world". Madden's contract paid him more annually than any NFL player.

Madden's lively and flamboyant delivery won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Awards for standing Sports Event Analyst. His announcing style was punctuated with interjections such as "Boom!", "Whap!", "Bang!", and "Doink!"' and with his use of the telestrator, a device which allowed him to superimpose his light-penned diagrams of football plays over video footage. He provided commentary for games broadcast by CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC, appearing on all four major American television networks.

Madden was also known for working the annual Thanksgiving Day games for CBS and later Fox. He would award a turkey or turducken to the winning team. He awarded a turkey drumstick to players of the winning team following the Thanksgiving Day game, often bringing out a "nuclear turkey" with as many as eight drumsticks on it for the occasion. The drumsticks served as an odd take on the "player of the game" award. In 2002, Madden stopped announcing the Thanksgiving Day games after he moved to ABC, but the tradition continued. Following his death, the NFL now honors Madden every Thanksgiving. Beginning in 2022, the entire tripleheader of games was dubbed the "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration".

On October 13, 2008, NBC announced that Madden would not be traveling to the October 19 Sunday Night Football Seattle Seahawks-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in Tampa, Florida, marking the end of Madden's 476-weekend streak of consecutive broadcast appearances. Madden was replaced by Football Night in America studio analyst Cris Collinsworth for the game, and returned for the following telecast on November 2, 2008, in Indianapolis. Madden called his final game on February 1, 2009, for Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. In April 2009, Madden announced his retirement.

Other Ventures and Legacy

Madden NFL Video Game Series

From 1988 on, Madden lent his name, voice and creative input to the John Madden Football series of video games by Electronic Arts, later called Madden NFL. Entries in the series have consistently been best-sellers, to the extent that they have even spawned TV shows featuring competition between players of the games. Madden viewed the game as an educational tool. The Madden NFL series became the best-selling American football video game franchise. As a result of its massive popularity, the video game helped to increase football’s global audience and, in turn, Madden’s fame.

All-Madden Team

In 1984, Madden created the "All-Madden" team, a group of players who Madden thought represented football and played the game the way he thought it should be played. Madden continued to pick the All-Madden team to the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC and Monday Night Football. Madden added his "Hall of Fame" for his favorite players. He created a special 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994, an All-Madden Super Bowl Team in 1997, and an All-Time All-Madden team in 2000.

Books and Television Appearances

Madden authored (with cowriter Dave Anderson) a number of best-selling books, including Hey, Wait a Minute, I Wrote a Book (1984), One Size Doesn’t Fit All (1988), and All Madden: Hey, I’m Talking Pro Football! (1996).

Read also: Lucas III's Path to Coaching

On December 25, 2021, the Fox network presented All Madden, a documentary highlighting Madden's rise to stardom as an NFL coach and broadcaster. Former and current NFL players appear in the film, which premiered prior to a Christmas Day contest on Fox between the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, just three days before his death. Following his death, Fox chose to re-air the documentary with a special encore presentation two days later on December 30. A biographical film, Madden, written and directed by David O.

Personal Life and Philanthropy

Madden met his wife, Virginia Fields, in a bar in Pismo Beach, California. They married on December 26, 1959, in Santa Maria, California. Afterward, they lived in Pleasanton, California, and had two sons, Joseph and Michael. Joe played football for the Brown Bears.

Madden's aversion to flying was well known, although his fear was not realized until many years into his adult life. He had lost people close to him in the October 29, 1960, California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash that claimed the lives of 16 players, the team's student manager, and a football booster. In 1979, he had his first panic attack on a flight originating in Tampa, Florida. Beginning in 1987, Greyhound Lines supplied Madden with a custom bus and drivers in exchange for advertising and speaking events, dubbed the Madden Cruiser.

Mr. Madden is president and CEO of Madden Charities, and in June 2019, Mr. Madden once again hosted the annual “Battle of the Bay" Charity Bocce Tournament benefitting several charities, including the Special Olympics of Northern California and diabetes research efforts.

In October 2022, Cal Poly and the Madden family announced that Madden had donated a leading contribution toward a total $30-million football facility on the Cal Poly campus.

Honors and Awards

Pro Football Hall of Fame (2006)
California Hall of Fame (2010)
16 Sports Emmy Awards
Cal Poly Honored Alumnus (1975)
Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame (1987)

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