.jpg) Madden in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1936-04-10)April 10, 1936 Austin, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | December 28, 2021(2021-12-28) (aged 85) Pleasanton, California, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Jefferson (Daly City, California) |
| College |
|
| NFL draft | 1958: 21st round, 244th overall pick |
| Position | Offensive tackle, No. 77 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Coaching | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | 103–32–7 (.750) |
| Postseason | 9–7 (.563) |
| Career | NFL: 112–39–7 (.731) College: 12–6 (.667) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professionalfootball coach andsports commentator in theNational Football League (NFL). He served as thehead coach of theOakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them to eight playoff appearances, seven division titles, sevenAFL/AFC Championship Game appearances, and the franchise's firstSuper Bowl title inSuper Bowl XI. Never having a losing season, Madden holds the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who coached at least 100 games. He is considered one of the greatest coaches of all time.
After retiring from coaching, Madden was acolor commentator for NFL telecasts from 1979 to 2009 and won 16Sports Emmy Awards. Madden appeared on all four major American television networks, providing commentary for games broadcast byCBS,Fox,ABC, andNBC. He also lent his name, expertise, and commentary to theMadden NFL video game series, which became the best-selling American football video game franchise. Madden was inducted to thePro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
John Earl Madden was born inAustin, Minnesota, on April 10, 1936, the son of Earl Russell Madden (1905–1961) and Mary (née Flaherty) Madden (1917–2011).[1][2] His father, anauto mechanic, moved the Madden family toDaly City, California, located south of San Francisco, when John was young.[3] John attendedCatholicparochial school withJohn Robinson[4] at Our Lady of Perpetual Help,[5] graduating in 1950,[6] and thenJefferson High School, graduating in 1954.[7][8][9][10]
A football star in high school, Madden played one season at theCollege of San Mateo,[11] in 1954,[12] before he was given a football scholarship to theUniversity of Oregon,[12][13][14] studying pre-law, and playing football with childhood friendJohn Robinson.[15] He wasredshirted because of a knee injury and had a knee operation.
In 1955, he attended the College of San Mateo,[16][12][17] thenGrays Harbor College, playing in the fall of 1956,[18] before transferring toCal Poly inSan Luis Obispo, where he played both offense and defense for theMustangs in 1957[19][20] and 1958 while earning a Bachelor of Science in education in 1959 and then a Master of Arts in education in 1961.[21] Madden's senior research project at Cal Poly focused on the use of weights to increase strides and speed in athletic training.[22]
He won first-team[23] all-conference honors[24] at offensive tackle in hisdebut season at Cal Poly, and was a catcher on theMustangs baseball team.[12] Known amongst his teammates for his impressive downfield speed for a lineman,[25] Madden also was selected byUnited Press International for Little All-Coast Second Team accolades following his junior season of 1957.[26] During the 1957 season, Madden caught a pass from future fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, then-teammate and Cal Poly quarterback,Bobby Beathard.[27]
Madden wasdrafted in the 21st round (244th overall) by theNFL'sPhiladelphia Eagles in1958, months before beginning his senior season at Cal Poly. His senior year, which again saw Madden regularly start on the left side of the offensive line,[28] was cut short due to a season-ending collarbone injury, suffered while making a tackle againstLong Beach State in October 1958, with four games remaining on the schedule.[29]
On January 3, 1959, Madden played in the All-American Bowl inTucson, Arizona,[30] and was later praised by Lou Pavlovich ofThe Sporting News for his play in the showcase.[31] In August 1959, he suffered a torn knee ligament[32] in his first training camp, during an Eagles scrimmage,[33] ending his playing career without having had an opportunity to play in a regulation game professionally.[19][13]
Madden recounted how he became involved with coaching:
"I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles — a knee injury — and I couldn't play. While I wasrehabbing,Norm Van Brocklin would be watching films and would explain what was happening. I ended up with a degree in teaching and my love for football meshed with teaching."[34]
In 1960, he became an assistant coach atAllan Hancock College inSanta Maria, California. He was promoted to head coach in 1962. Madden went 12–6 in two seasons, including an 8–1 mark in 1963,[35] during which his Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 nationally among city colleges.[36] Following the 1963 season, he was hired as a defensive assistant coach atSan Diego State, where he served to 1966. During that final campaign,the 1966 Aztecs were ranked among the top small colleges in the country.[19] While at San Diego State, Madden coached underDon Coryell, whom Madden credited as being an influence on his coaching.[34]
Building on that success, Madden was hired byAl Davis as linebackers coach for theAFL'sOakland Raiders in1967,[37] putting him in theSid Gillmancoaching tree.[38] He helped the team reachSuper Bowl II that season. A year later, after Raiders head coachJohn Rauch resigned to take the same position with theBuffalo Bills,[39] Madden was named the Raiders' head coach on February 4, 1969, becoming, at the age of 32, the AFL/NFL's youngest head coach to that time.[40]
Madden's first Raiders squad went 12–1–1 in1969 but lost 17–7 to theKansas City Chiefs in the last-everAmerican Football League Championship Game.[41] This would become a frustrating trend during Madden's coaching career. Oakland won sevenAFC West division championships and always played to a winning record during his ten seasons as head coach, but they also lost in six AFL/AFC Championship Games.[42]
One of the most frustrating playoff defeats came in1972, when what appeared to be a last-minute AFC divisional round victory over the Steelers instead became a part of football lore, whenFranco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" gavePittsburgh a 13–7 win.[43] In 1974, after knocking the two-time defending Super Bowl championMiami Dolphins out of the playoffsin dramatic fashion, theRaiders again lost to theSteelers in theAFC Championship Game.[44] TheSteelers again ended the Raiders' season one game short of theSuper Bowl in the 1975 AFC Championship Game.[45]
In 1976, theRaiders went 13–1 in the regular season and escaped the first round of the playoffs with a dramatic and controversial 24–21 victory over theNew England Patriots. In their third straight battle with theSteelers in the AFC Championship game, Madden's Raiders finally defeated their nemesis 24–7 to reachSuper Bowl XI. On January 9, 1977, Madden won his first and only NFL title with a 32–14 win over theMinnesota Vikings.[46]
TheRaiders made the playoffs in1977 as a Wild Card team, but again lost the AFC Championship Game, this time to theDenver Broncos.[47] The Raiders enjoyed their tenth straight winning campaign under Madden in1978 but failed to qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in his tenure.[48] Soon after their season ended, Madden announced his retirement on January 4, 1979, due to a troublesomeulcer andoccupational burnout, stating that he was permanently ending his coaching career.[49]
Among Madden's accomplishments as a head coach were winning a Super Bowl, and becoming the youngest coach to reach 100 career regular-season victories, a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42.[50] Madden is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history.[51]
Madden never had a losing season as a head coach. His overall winning percentage, including playoff games, ranks second in league history behindGuy Chamberlin and is the highest among those who coached 100 games.[52] Madden achieved his record while competing against coaching legends such asTom Landry,Don Shula,Chuck Noll, andBud Grant.[53]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hancock Bulldogs(Central California Junior College Association)(1962–1963) | |||||||||
| 1962 | Hancock | 4–5 | 2–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1963 | Hancock | 8–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| Hancock: | 12–6 | 6–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 12–6 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| OAK | 1969 | 12 | 1 | 1 | .893 | 1st in AFL Western | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toKansas City Chiefs in AFL Championship Game |
| OAK | 1970 | 8 | 4 | 2 | .643 | 1st in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toBaltimore Colts in AFC Championship Game |
| OAK | 1971 | 8 | 4 | 2 | .643 | 2nd in AFC West | – | – | – | – |
| OAK | 1972 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 1st in AFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toPittsburgh Steelers in Divisional Round |
| OAK | 1973 | 9 | 4 | 1 | .679 | 1st in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toMiami Dolphins in AFC Championship Game |
| OAK | 1974 | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 1st in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toPittsburgh Steelers in AFC Championship Game |
| OAK | 1975 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 1st in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toPittsburgh Steelers in AFC Championship Game |
| OAK | 1976 | 13 | 1 | 0 | .929 | 1st in AFC West | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | Super Bowl XI champions |
| OAK | 1977 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 2nd in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toDenver Broncos in AFC Championship Game |
| OAK | 1978 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2nd in AFC West | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 103 | 32 | 7 | .750 | 9 | 7 | .563 | |||
Madden joinedCBS as acolor commentator in 1979. After working lower-profile contests during his first years, he was elevated to CBS's top football broadcasting duo withPat Summerall in 1981, replacingTom Brookshier. Prior to teaming with Summerall on CBS, Madden was paired with a variety of announcers, such asBob Costas,Vin Scully,Dick Stockton,Frank Glieber, andGary Bender.[56] The team of Madden and Summerall would go on to call eight Super Bowls together.[57]
On occasions in which Summerall was unavailable (during the CBS years, Summerall was normally scheduled to commentate on theU.S. Open tennis tournament during the early weeks of the NFL season), Madden would team with the likes ofVin Scully[58] and subsequently,Verne Lundquist. On their final CBS telecast together, the1993 NFC Championship Game on January 23, 1994, Madden told Summerall that while CBS may no longer have the NFL,[a] at least they have the memories. OnABC's finalMonday Night Football telecast in 2005, Madden used a similar choice of words.[59]
In 1994, whenFox 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 ownerGeneral Electric (GE) offered to make Madden its "worldwide spokesman", andGE Rail would build him a luxury train. After he almost joined ABC,[60] Madden and Summerall, along with Producer Bob Stenner and Director Sandy Grossman—known as the football broadcasting "A Team"—helped establishFox's NFL coverage,[61] Madden and that group gave Fox credibility to broadcast whatRupert Murdoch called "the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world". Madden's contract paid him more annually than any NFL player.[60] However, toward the end of his tenure, Fox was reportedly losing an estimated $4.4 billion on its NFL contract for the eight-year deal it signed in 1998, and it had been trying to cut programming costs as a result. Madden's Fox contract would have been worth $8 million for 2003.[62]
In 2002, Madden became a commentator onABC'sMonday Night Football, working with longtime play-by-play announcerAl Michaels.[63][64] Madden reportedly made $5 million per year.[62]
In 2005,Dick Ebersol, president ofNBC Sports, announced that Madden would provide color commentary forNBC's Sunday night NFL games, beginning with the2006 season, making him the first sportscaster to have worked for all of the "Big Four" U.S. broadcast television networks.[65] On October 13, 2008, NBC announced that Madden would not be traveling to the October 19Sunday Night FootballSeattle Seahawks–Tampa Bay Buccaneers game inTampa, Florida, marking the end of Madden's 476-weekend streak of consecutive broadcast appearances. Madden, who traveled by bus, decided to take the week off because he had traveled fromJacksonville to San Diego, and would have had to go back to Florida before returning to hisNorthern California home.[66]
Madden was replaced byFootball Night in America studio analystCris Collinsworth for the game,[66] and returned for the following telecast on November 2, 2008, in Indianapolis. Until2010 the NFL did not schedule Sunday night games for one week in October, so as not to overlap with theWorld Series taking place roughly around the same time. Madden called his final game on February 1, 2009, forSuper Bowl XLIII between theArizona Cardinals and thePittsburgh Steelers. Madden announced his official retirement from the broadcasting booth on April 16, 2009.[67] He was succeeded by Collinsworth.[61]
In the 1970s, Madden got his start in broadcasting by calling in to longtime San Francisco radio personality "The Emperor" Gene Nelson's show on stationKYA while coach of the Raiders. He followed Nelson when he moved to stationKSFO, and the call-ins continued even after Madden's coaching retirement. Madden later made appearances onKNBR.[68] In 1997, he began calling in to radio stationKCBS five days a week at 8:15 a.m. Pacific Time. This continued to Thanksgiving 2015, when he ceased calling after heart surgery and other health concerns.[69]
In 2017, he began making twice-weekly appearances on KCBS radio again, appearing Mondays and Fridays at 9:15 a.m. He stopped making regular radio call-ins in August 2018, citing a desire to remove any obligations from his schedule. KCBS named him "Senior Investigative At-Large Correspondent", indicating that he may occasionally call in again.[69] Madden also aired sports commentaries in syndication on theWestwood One radio network in the United States.[70]
Madden's lively and flamboyant delivery won him critical acclaim and fourteenSports 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 thetelestrator, a device which allowed him to superimpose his light-penned diagrams of football plays over video footage. Madden's use of the telestrator helped to popularize the technology, which has become a staple of television coverage of all sports.[71]
Madden was also known for working the annualThanksgiving Day games for CBS and later Fox. He would award a turkey orturducken to the winning team. He awarded a turkeydrumstick 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. Fox, CBS, the NFL Network, and later NBC presented the Galloping Gobbler to thegame's "Most Valuable" player until 2015.[72]
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". A recording of Madden was played before each of the Thanksgiving games in 2022, and has continued since, along with the awarding of a “Madden Player of the Game” after each game, with NBC continuing on the tradition of awarding the turkey legs to its players of the game.[73]
Of all those players, I think Jack Youngblood...personified the All-Madden team spirit...
In 1984, Madden took the advice of NFL coachJohn Robinson—a friend of Madden since elementary school—and 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.[75] Madden continued to pick the All-Madden team to the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC andMonday Night Football. Madden added his "Hall of Fame" for his favorite players.[76] 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.All Madden was the title of Madden's third best-selling book, afterHey, Wait A Minute? I Wrote a Book andOne Knee Equals Two Feet.[77]
InAll Madden, Madden explained:
What does it mean to be 'All-Madden'? It's a whole range of things. For defensive linemen and linebackers, it's aboutJack Youngblood playing with a busted leg,Lawrence Taylor wreaking havoc on the offense andReggie White making the other guy wish he put a little more in the collection plate at church. It's about a guy who's got a dirty uniform, mud on his face and grass in the ear hole of his helmet.[78]
Madden was featured in the movieLittle Giants.[79] He also played himself as the broadcaster of the fictional games in the filmThe Replacements alongside his broadcast partner at the timePat Summerall.[80]
On December 25, 2021, the Fox network presentedAll 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 aChristmas Day contest on Fox between theCleveland Browns andGreen Bay Packers inGreen Bay, just three days before his death.[81] Following his death, Fox chose to re-air the documentary with a special encore presentation two days later on December 30. Various streaming platforms made the documentary available following the encore broadcast due to popular demand.
A biographical film,Madden, written and directed byDavid O. Russell and starringNicolas Cage as Madden, started filming in April 2025.[82]
Madden appeared in a variety of radio and television commercials includingAce Hardware,Outback Steakhouse (the corporate sponsor of theMadden Cruiser),[83]Verizon Wireless,Rent-A-Center,Miller Lite,Toyota,Sirius Satellite Radio, and"Tough Actin" Tinactin.[84][67][60] In particular, the Miller beer advertisements cemented Madden's image in the public eye as a bumbling but lovable personality.[85]
Madden appeared in a 1999 episode ofThe Simpsons, "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday".[86] In 1982, Madden hosted an episode of NBC'sSaturday Night Live with musical guestJennifer Holliday.[87] In 2001, Madden was featured inU2's music video for the song "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of".[88] In 1972, he appeared in the video forPaul Simon's single "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard",[89] in which he attempts to teach football fundamentals to a group of kids playing a pickup game.[90]
To minimize travel to studios, Madden built Goal Line Productions inPleasanton, California.[91]
From 1988 on, Madden lent his name, voice and creative input to theJohn Madden Football series of video games byElectronic Arts, later calledMadden 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[citation needed]. Despite Madden's retirement as a broadcaster in 2009, he still continued to lend his name and provide creative input to the series,[92] which were so popular that he became better known as the face ofMadden to contemporary football fans than as a Super Bowl-winning coach and broadcaster, up until his death in 2021.[93]
Madden viewed the game as an educational tool. During initial planning conversations withElectronic Arts founderTrip Hawkins in 1984, Madden envisioned the program as a tool for teaching and testing plays.[93][94] He stated in 2012 thatMadden NFL was "a way for people to learn the game [of football] and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level".[95]
The EA Sports series continues to use his name, iconography and licence following his death, and announced on Madden Day, June 1, 2022, that all editions ofMadden NFL 23 would feature Madden on the cover in tribute of his legacy, with the next gen version cover being a picture of Madden celebrating his victory as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI, and the All Madden Edition cover being based on the cover of the series' 1st installment,John Madden Football.[96]
NFL
Broadcasting
Halls of Fame
Madden met his wife, Virginia Fields, in a bar inPismo Beach, California.[33] They married on December 26, 1959, inSanta Maria, California. Afterward, they lived inPleasanton, California, and had two sons, Joseph and Michael. Joe played football for theBrown Bears. Mike attendedHarvard University, where he started as receiver on the football team.[105] A grandson, Jesse, played football for theMichigan Wolverines in the early 2020s and was hired as a quality control coach for theWashington Commanders in 2025.[106][107]
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 inTampa, Florida. He never flew on a plane again.[108] Madden stated once in an interview that his fears were not about turbulence, flying, orheights, but primarilyclaustrophobia.[109]
During his appearance to hostSaturday Night Live in the early 1980s, the show included a short film depicting Madden making the journey by train to New York City to host the show. In the mid-1980s, Madden was a frequent rider onAmtrak'sLake Shore Limited.[110] Amtrak allowed Madden to use the dining car at any time.[111]
Beginning in 1987,Greyhound Lines supplied Madden with a custom bus and drivers in exchange for advertising and speaking events, dubbed the Madden Cruiser.[112] The Madden Cruiser shells were manufactured byMotor Coach Industries. The coach-bus sponsors over the years includedWalker Advantage Muffler andOutback Steakhouse.[83] In 2018, Madden donated the original Madden Cruiser to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where it was restored to its original condition.[113]
Madden never did commentary for thePro Bowl, which was held inHonolulu every year of his broadcasting career. Likewise, Madden never called any preseason game held outside of North America, even when his play-by-play partner was on the telecast. Madden found an unexpected use for his bus in New York City after theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, when he provided transportation for former ice-skating championPeggy Fleming, whose flight home toLos Gatos, California, had been grounded.[114]
In June 2016, Madden'sbocce tournament, co-hosted withSteve Mariucci, raised $5 million for Special Olympics Northern California, theJuvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Diabetes Youth Foundation.[115] In 2021, Madden began funding six scholarships to his alma mater,Cal Poly, for students from variousEast Bay high schools.[116]
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. The facility, to be named the John Madden Football Center, would furnish all-new lockers, strength and conditioning facilities, a nutrition center, offices, training rooms and a film-review theater for the team's coaches, players and trainers.[117] The facility will encompass 30,000 square feet[118] and is anticipated to open in 2029, with the entrance adjacent to the university's memorial for the1960 airline crash victims, many of whom were Madden's friends.[119]
Madden died at his home inPleasanton, California, on December 28, 2021, at the age of 85.[1][120] The cause of death was undisclosed.[121]
Recruited to play football at the University of Oregon, he transferred out after his first year and eventually ended up at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958, Madden suffered a career-ending knee injury during training camp.
There's an All-Madden Haul of Fame too, and that's not a typo. Haul of Fame is correct.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | NFL on CBS lead game analyst 1981–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | NFL on Fox lead game analyst 1994–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Monday Night Football game analyst 2002–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | NBC Sunday Night Football game analyst 2006–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | NFL on NBC lead game analyst 2006–2008 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
