Passes away suddenly at 85
By Mark Halpern
On Monday, December 28th, John Earl Madden, Legendary Coach of the Oakland Raiders and NFL Analyst, passed away at 85. He passed suddenly and from Natural causes. He was loved by the NFL community, from its fans to its heads in the NFL front office.
Madden got his start in the NFL in 1959 when he played as a tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 21st round of the draft, mind you. In today’s draft, it didn’t go past 8 rounds. Unfortunately, Madden suffered a horrible knee injury and never played for the Eagles. Madden Knew his chances of playing in the NFL just went out the window, but his love of the sport turned him to coaching, and in 1966 he met Al Davis, which was the beginning of a great relationship. In 1967 Davis promoted Madden to oversee the LineBackers, and just two years later, he was named head coach. After ten years of building a great team, Madden took them to Super Bowl XI in 1977 and won. A Madden Legacy was Born.
After some health issues, Madden retired from coaching only to find himself in the announcing booth calling games on CBS and FOX. He was put with Pat Summerall, and over the next 21 years, the two of them had some of the best broadcasts aired on national television. The two of them worked so well together there was no time for dead air because when one of them stopped, the other chimed in and kept the conversation going. The final game of their long-time partnership ended with them doing Super Bowl XLIII in Feb 2009. I don’t believe in my generation that we will hear two perfect analysts in a booth again.
John Madden had his name attached to the most significant selling sports game franchise of all season. In 1991, the Nintendo company released the first Madden game for its Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was one of the most sought-after games of that year. It was the first Football game that made you feel like you were playing the game. Over the next 23 years, we have seen this game evolve, and the graphics in today’s game make you feel like you are paying as your favorite character. Madden gave his advice for the game inserting many plays he used over his tenure in Oakland and his knowledge of Football. Like MLB, The Show is the staple video game for baseball; Madden is the staple game for Football.
In 2006 Madden was elected into the Nfl Hall of Fame as part of the Oakland Raiders. The News of his passing struck me hard as I have admired him from his knowledge of the sport of Football, and his attachment to the NFL game Madden was legendary. I have collected one madden game since its inception. SO from 1991-2022, I have games from SNES, N64, GAME CUBE, THE WII. XBOX 360 AND XBOX 1S. When I heard the announcement of his passing, it was like a little of my childhood/adulthood died, and that is how the old man sees it.
The Sports Insanity Network 