There’s nothing anyone can say to put into perspective how much John Madden meant to the game of football. He’s obviously larger than life and influenced generations of fans to love the game, but to me he was more than that. I can honestly say there wasn’t a part of my life he didn’t influence in one way or another, maybe you feel the same.
The Broadcaster
One of my favorite childhood memories is Thanksgiving from 2000. I was seven years old and it was one of many Thanksgiving dinners with my parents and older brother. For some of you football historians, it wasn’t the Randy Moss 3 catch, 3 touchdown game, but he did have 7 catches for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Cowboys in 2000, pedestrian. I remember my dad asked me to list my favorite football teams and as I was doing this, Madden started going off about his favorite creation–the Turducken (created by a chef working in Wyoming according to this article). I was in awe listening to him describe this monstrosity that would make a vegetarian scream. Even though my family didn’t share my love of football, every Thanksgiving we were blessed to watch John put on a show.
I was lucky enough to have a TV in my room from a fairly young age. I always wanted to watch sports while my parents always watched the Sopranos, or some other traumatizing show for a 7 year old. After bedtime, there were several Mondays I would pretend to go to bed, just to turn on the tv and watch Monday Night Football. I would try to time the commercial breaks from my parents shows so I could turn off my TV before my mom caught me. There were numerous times I got my ass chewed for staying up too late because Madden’s boisterous demeanor and loud sound effects were not conducive for sneaky behavior. It was worth it to see some classics like the Peyton Manning’s miracle (and controversial) comeback while Madden doodled on the telestrator:
One thing I loved about John Madden the broadcaster was his enthusiasm and love for the game. It didn’t matter who you were; even my mom, who doesn’t know the difference between a first down and a field goal, knew who Madden was. If there’s anything to learn from Madden the broadcaster, it’s to find what you love and give 100% to it.
The Game
The first time I played the Madden video game was on a Super Nintendo. If you’ve never played it or have seen videos of the Super Nintendo Madden, you might have an aneurysm trying to watch someone throw a football in this game. There were three windows with the buttons for each receiver under each window. There was no threading the needle or trying to throw a “touch pass” like in today’s Madden; either the receiver was open and you pressed the button, or he wasn’t and you ate a sack or threw a disastrous interception. What made this game so revolutionary though were the 3D “graphics” (forget about the animated ambulance), being able to move around left, right, North and South on an actual football field, and the playbook.
Madden’s vision for the video game was to not only bring football to a new generation, but to help coaches as well. Although “Tecmo Bowl” was awesome at the time, there were only 4 plays to choose from, with Madden you had a variety of formations and unique plays for each formation. I’m not sure if Bill Belichick was playing Madden to help him install a fire zone blitz, but the game definitely helped raise the IQ of average NFL fans.
Growing up, Madden was always a theme around any late night shenanigans with the boys. For me, it started with the aforementioned Super Nintendo Madden at my Grandparent’s house, where my Grandpa would always give me grief for playing, “tiddlywinks”–it took me until my adult life to figure out what the hell he was talking about, and to be honest I still don’t see the connection. About the same year as the Minnesota/Dallas Thanksgiving game I got a PS2 for Christmas and immediately started whooping my Brother and Dad’s ass with Terrell Davis– giving at minimum 5 Mile High Salutes per game. Around the Xbox 360 days, us boys became men by verbally berating each other during Madden tournaments or when playing each other online. Although I would argue the game is seeing diminishing returns (Shut up and take my 60 dollars for roster updates) I still catch myself wanting to grind out 5 seasons of Franchise mode at a time or creating a 6’10 500 pound quarterback who runs a 4.3 40.
John Madden often says not investing his own money in EA was the dumbest thing he’s ever done, but the cultural impact of the video game no doubt left an impact on generations due to Madden’s foresight and courage to create something nobody believed in at the time.
The Coach
Obviously, I was just a tadpole swimming in my pop’s testis when Madden was roaming the sidelines in the Silver and Black, but I’ve always fancied myself a football historian as well. I would watch the NFL network constantly, and loved the “America’s Game” series. Although I was a Broncos fan, the 1976 documentary with Madden and Ken Stabler is one of my favorites as they talked about Fred Biletnikoff using stick ‘em, the immaculate reception heartbreak and the eventual Super Bowl win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Despite coaching 20 years before I was conceived, Madden still has an impact on the way I coach to this day. If you watch footage of him coaching, you will see a little kid in a big dude’s body. The enthusiasm and pure joy he showed is an example of how everyone should attack each day. So many coaches become entrenched in their scheme–they’ll take any form of feedback as an attack to their wisdom. In the 1976 America’s Game, both Madden and Stabler talked about the collaborative relationship Coach had with his team. It wasn’t “his way or the highway”, but rather a system built around communication. Even after his coaching career, Madden would interview coaches and players and talk about how much he learned from those conversations. As a man who never coached a losing season, he could’ve easily been a tyrant and commanded respect, but instead was the poster child for how to run an organization.
There are no words to describe this loss for us football fans, but I hope we all can learn to lead and live the way John Madden did. Love you guys, RIP Coach.
The Morning Flush 