The life and career of the late, great John Madden

It is very rare that a celebrity death makes us emotional, but the passing of John Madden brought a tear to our eyes. We know that the man and his legacy will live on forever through the games – but the National Football League will never be the same again.

We have no doubt that this year’s Super Bowl will include a tribute to the man – you can find Super Bowl betting odds on the teams that might be playing here. However, we didn’t want to wait that long and are writing a tribute to him today.

The College Years

After a successful few years of playing football in high school, Madden attended the College of San Mateo for a year before being given a full scholarship at the University of Oregon. Madden then jumped around colleges studying Pre-Law until he settled at Cal Poly.

At Cal Poly Madden filled in whatever position they needed him to. So, he ended up playing roles in both the defensive and offensive squads.

After playing very little in college, Madden ended up being drafted in the 21st round – 244th overall – by the Philadelphia Eagles. Madden was badly injured in his first training camp with the Eagles and was never able to play a professional game in the NFL.

Who could imagine that someone who was drafted so late in the process would go on to make such a big impact on the sport?

The Coaching Years

Two years after leaving the NFL due to injury, Madden took up an assistant coaching post at Allan Hancock College. After a season he was made head coach.

Madden was then headhunted to be a defensive coach for San Diego State. He spent two years with them before being offered the job as Linebacker Coach of the Oakland Raiders. Madden spent a total of 9 seasons with the Oakland Raiders. They won their division during 7 of those years and only didn’t make it into the playoffs once.

Of the coaches that have coached over 100 NFL games, Madden has the second-highest win percentage. He is still the most successful coach the Raiders have ever had and he never lost a season. Madden was also the youngest NFL coach ever to reach 100 regular-season victories.

Madden’s most successful season was in 1976 when the Raiders ended the season on 13-0. They then went on to win the Conference title and the Super Bowl that year.

In the two years previously, they have made it to the AFC championship match only to be knocked out by the Steelers. They lost the AFC championship match the year after as well.

Madden NFL

Even people who do not follow football will know the name – John Madden. Why? Well, because the most successful NFL game series of all time (and the only official series) is named after the man.

Madden won 12 Emmys during his commentary career, so it only seemed right that he would be the one to commentate on the first NFL video game.

Madden stated that he decided to get involved in the game because he could see what a powerful educational tool it would be. He saw that it had a future for teaching young children how to safely play the game but that coaches and players could also use it to test out plays.

The first game was released in 1988, and now a new and updated version of the game is released every year. This will be the first year when Madden has not personally worked on the game. He even continued contributing to the game after he had retired from commentating in 2009.

The game has been one of the best-selling games for its producers EA since its first release and there seem to be no signs that they will stop making the game any time soon.

His Death

On December 18, 2021, Madden passed away at home surrounded by his family.

After his passing nearly every NFL player, coach, commentator, and staff member put out a statement about how much Madden would be missed. Broadcasters were seen wearing “All-Madden” jackets, a reference to Madden’s yearly superstar team selection. Many celebrities, athletes, and broadcasters outside of the world of football also paid tribute to the man after his death.

We expect that a large part of the Super Bowl halftime break will be devoted to paying tribute to John Madden and his legacy.