John Madden

[rhickok1109]

CBS seemed intent on sanctifying John Madden yesterday, which made me wonder: Did Madden ever say anything that improved anybody's knowledge or understanding of pro football?
Frankly, I thought he was a buffoon as a commentator. He said "Boom" a lot and, when he wasn't saying "Boom," he pretty much stated the obvious.
I remember him chiefly for two comments:
The Packers faced something like 3rd-and-32 and Madden snarked, "The West Coast Offense doesn't have any pass plays that cover 32 yards." Favre promptly threw the ball about 40 yards downfield to Antonio Freeman on a play that ended up gaining more than 50 yards.
More famously, after the Rams tied the score with 1:30 to play in SB XXXVI, he said the Patriots should just run out the clock and hope to win in overtime. Of course, they ignored his rather foolish advice and won on Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal with no time remaining.

[RichardBak]

Overall, I liked Madden, and I think he and Summerall (who I liked better) made a good broadcast team. I didn't think Madden was all that terribly insightful---in a way he was more comic relief and he became kind of a caricature of himself as the years wore on. But he had the kind of "every guy" persona most football fans like. The "boom" shtick did grow old. But hell, it was making him $7 million a year, so why give it up?

So much of American life, be it sports, politics, whatever, boils down to the question of "Would I like to have a beer with this guy?" With Madden, you literally could.

[JeffreyMiller]

I like Madden but I think he's emblematic of the league's penchant for hype. The growing overhype the league and it's personalities has experienced since the merger has turned some rather pedestrian characters into folk heroes. Yes, Madden was a successful coach, but is that one championship he helmed the impetus for his lasting fame? He was a lovable character in the booth. I would argue that the exposure he received working alongside Pat Summerall was the true springboard to his legend, the telestrator and his boisterous interjections becoming more memorable to many fans than his NFL titles.

[Brian wolf]

Madden had incredible insight and analysis early in his broadcast career before his persona took over. He challenged producer Terry O' Neil at CBS to isolate more of what was going on in the trenchs and defensively, so viewers could understand what the linemen and players in man-to-man or zone defense were doing, rather than just showing replays of big plays.

Though George Allen and Al DeRogatis were better overall at color and analysis to me than Madden, they didnt have his colorful personality or relatability with players that he would spotlight all the time in covering mostly NFC teams. He calmed down and did his job better for ABC and NBC later. It was easy to understand why he didnt like Frank Caliendo's imitations of him because Frank could easily make fun of the way John could talk or expound himself into a corner. Pat Summerall deferred to John too much, which let him run amok, like my ramblings ... haha

[Crazy Packers Fan]

John Madden's greatest legacy is the video game. By putting his name on the video game, he legitimized it, while forcing EA Sports to have 11 players per team or else he wasn't doing it. The video game exploded in popularity, and now (even with the annual cries of how the game stinks) it is a cultural phenomenon and one of the main ways youngsters learn football. Kids today aren't getting into football because of the coaches (which Madden was), or because of the announcers (which Madden was). It's the video game that pulls them in. And the video game never becomes big without Madden's name on it.

[JuggernautJ]

Agree with all of the above.

Many here might say that he was a borderline Hall of Fame coach.
And he certainly became a caricature of himself as time went on.
But his legacy probably is, as Crazy said, that silly game that has created so many football fanatics (even among the players).

The one thing I would add is that, years ago, the Plant Manager where I worked was discussing Monday Night Football, John Madden and their effect on his wife. He said something along the lines of "My wife never watched or understood football until Madden explained it in a way she could understand and without him she never would have come to enjoy and appreciate the game."

Point being, I think for those of us already beyond a rudimentary understanding of the game Madden could seem simplistic and obtuse.
But for the novices he was profoundly.... profound and entertaining.

I respect John Madden for the lifelong contributions he made to our game.
I don't appreciate the hype from the networks... during the segment I saw the focus was his relationship with Daryl Stingley and his family and what a great humanitarian Madden was... not on his contributions to the game.
It's just more hype and irrelevant BS made to (seemingly) ennoble and hype the NFL.

Next up, John Madden and Pigeons, an hour long documentary on the NFL and wildlife conservation...

[JohnTurney]

I think these are all valid points. He was good IMO, but not the saint they seem to make him out to me. I have been over
"turducken" for two decades ... sounds gross ... (I don't like duck, though).

But everyone here kind of nailed it.

The beatification was over the top ... I think he did a lot for the game but no one should
ever get to a point cannot have their flaws pointed out either and Madden had flaws -- like everyone. I think if
anyone brought them up, they'd probably get shouted down.

His legacy in my world is mixed -- more positive than negative but far from 100% postive which is what it's been
when the NFL dicsusses him in recent years.

I've talked to media people who said he could be kind of a jerk... not always but that if you put him on TV
he'd love it, if you were print reporter not so much. Little things like that.

[JohnR]

Outside of having his name & image attached to the Madden video game, did he do anything that added to the content? Seems like he's given waaaaay too much credit for that success. He was a popular figure but if the game sucked nobody would have played it..
I always appreciated his candor as HC during the post-game radio interviews.

[Ronfitch]

“Seemed like the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with.”

[JeffreyMiller]

“Seemed like the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with.”

To go with the pizza from Ken Crippen, perhaps?