On December 28, 2021, the NFL lost a legend in John Madden. Madden was 85 years old and unexpectedly passed away at his home in California, the cause of death is unidentified. Madden was an NFL coach and commentator, best known for his time coaching the Raiders in the 1970s. When Madden retired from coaching in 1979, he finished with a record of 103-32-7 and the team never finished with a losing record during his 10 seasons. Madden has the highest win percentage of any coach with over 100 games coached at .759. Madden got married on December 26, 1959 and had two children, Michael and Joseph.
Throughout his storied coaching career, Madden led the Raiders to 7 AFC championship games and 1 SuperBowl, which they won 32-14 against the Vikings. After the win, the famous picture of John Madden being carried off the field was created, which lives on in football history. In 2006, John Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After Madden’s coaching career, he would move into the booth and commentate NFL games for 21 years. Madden would be joined with Pat Summerall and the two would call over 300 games together, along with multiple SuperBowls. In Madden’s final broadcast, he and Al Michaels called SuperBowl XLIII between the Steelers and Cardinals. This game famously ended with Santonio Holmes catching the game winning touchdown with little time remaining.
The famous NFL video game by EA sports, is named after John Madden. Originally named John Madden Football, the game has been out since 1988 and has been a fan favorite ever since. Every year a new game releases and an NFL player is given the honor of being named the cover athlete of the game.
John Madden will live on in football history for his many seasons coaching and commentating.
