John Madden helped make American football and the NFL a global mass phenomenon. He gave the sport its own soundtrack and, not least, contributed to the enormous popularity of America’s Game with an incredibly successful series of video games. Madden died on December 28th in California at the age of 85.
In the element: John Madden as coach of the Oakland Raiders in December 1970.
Roger Goddell, the often waxy-looking NFL commissioner, found the right words for once when he said on Tuesday: “John was football. We owe him eternal gratitude for what he has done for this sport and this league. ” And Jerry Jones, the militant owner of the Dallas Cowboys, wrote almost reverently: “I don’t know anyone who has done more for the NFL. Nobody loved this sport more than he did. “
Madden was the figurehead of the NFL for decades, although he never played in the league – a knee injury put him out of action before his first professional appearance. The son of an auto mechanic trained to be a teacher – and at the age of 24 he became an assistant trainer at a college in California before he was hired by the Oakland Raiders in 1967 and promoted to head coach there two years later. For a decade he rushed from victory to victory with the Raiders, his mantra was: “The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules the players can break.” In 1976 he won the Superbowl in front of over 100,000 spectators – the ticket price was 20 dollars.
Even his services as a coach were an impressive legacy. But he became a mass phenomenon as a TV analyst and author. He gave the league a face when it wasn’t the multi-billion dollar money printing machine it is today. It is telling that the official video game of the National Football League (NFL) produced by the market leader EA Sports is still called “Madden NFL” – and not simply “Fifa”, “NHL” or “NBA”. Madden 22 was the top-selling video game in the United States in August. As early as 1988 Madden lent his name to a PC game, at that time still a niche product on the MS-Dos system, in the development of which Madden helped mainly because he believed it could be a strategic aid for coaches. Today it is sold millions of times a year, the turnover over all the years is said to be around seven billion dollars – the popularity has exploded with that of the league.
Madden played a key role in this development. For years it was he who patiently brought the game and its nuances closer to the Americans, week after week; he found a sound that went down well with people who didn’t spend hours dissecting every game. But just looking for a bit of distraction with beer and chicken wings. For his work on TV, Madden has received a breathtaking 16 Emmy Awards. He used to travel to the games he was commenting on in his own bus – he was afraid of flying. After games on Thanksgiving, he presented the best player with a “turducken” to present: a chicken stuffed into a duck, which in turn was stuffed into a turkey. It couldn’t be more American.
There was something unpretentious about Madden. And it was so well received by the masses because it completely lacked the allure of professional athletes. He skilfully made profit from his popularity, earning around ten million dollars as a TV analyst in his prime – and was also a sought-after advertising medium.
John Madden died on December 28th in his California residence.