He walked away from coaching after winning a Super Bowl in Oakland, and forged a 30 year career in broadcasting with four networks. His boundless energy and straight-forward analysis put him in the Hall of Fame.
Today, we remember John Madden, who introduced "terducken" into the American Thanksgiving lexicon, inspired a long-running video game series, and was the gold standard for NFL game analysts. Madden passed away suddenly at 85.
It was Madden who was coaching the then-Oakland Raiders when they fell victim to the infamous "Immaculate Reception" against Pittsburgh. However, the Raiders would eventually recover from that, and won the Super Bowl following the 1976 season, beating Minnesota.
Madden made his broadcasting debut for CBS sometime after, and, at first, was assigned a regional game. One of his first broadcast partners was another sports icon in Vin Scully. After Tom Brookshier left CBS, Madden was promoted to succeed him as Pat Summerall's broadcast partner, turning their headline games on CBS & Fox into must-see TV. Madden eventually left Fox, and signed with ABC/ESPN, working with Al Michaels on Monday Night Football until they were signed away to NBC for the launch of Sunday Night Football. Michaels will certainly have something to say in memory of Madden on the season finale of SNF on January 2.
It was Madden who introduced America to a bizarre hybrid of turkey, duck, & chicken----terducken---one Thanksgiving. Amazingly, no one has ever tried to market it. Madden also did commercials for Tinactin, and appeared in a music video with Paul Simon, who reissued one of his 70's classics, "Me & Julio Down by The Schoolyard". Madden was actually parodying his own coaching style, trying to draw up a play for some kids playing playground basketball.
Rest in peace.
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