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[LosingNow]

A true icon.. a one-of-a-kind broadcaster 
--
Updated: April 16, 2009, 8:28 PM ET

Madden retires after 30 years in booth

NEW YORK -- John Madden is retiring from football announcing, where his enthusiastic, down-to-earth style made him one of sports' most popular broadcasters for three decades.

The Hall of Fame coach spent the last three seasons on NBC's "Sunday Night Football." His final telecast was the Super Bowl in February.

"You know at some point you have to do this -- I got to that point," Madden said on his Bay Area radio show Thursday. "The thing that made it hard is not because I'm second-guessing, 'Is it the right decision?' But I enjoyed it so damn much.

"I enjoyed the game and the players and the coaches and the film and the travel and everything."

Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden, moving over from the network's studio show, NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol said. Collinsworth filled in when Madden took a game off last October.


 NFL.com Video

John Madden discusses what the Hall of Fame means to him.

Ebersol called Madden "absolutely the best sports broadcaster who ever lived."

Madden said his health is fine, but at the age of 73, he wanted to spend more time with his family. His 50th wedding anniversary is this fall, and his five grandchildren are old enough to notice when he's gone.

"If you hated part of it or if something was wrong, it'd be easy," Madden said.

Madden's blue-collar style and love for in-the-trenches football endeared him to fans. His "Madden NFL Football" is the top-selling sports video game of all time.

"We're excited to see his legacy live on in the 21st year of Madden NFL football, and well beyond. It's been a privilege for EA Sports to have had the strong relationship we've had with John for more than two decades and one that will continue into the future," EA Sports president Peter Moore said in a statement.

Madden is reluctant to fly and often traveled to games in a specially equipped bus.

Longtime broadcast partner Al Michaels said Madden will have a unique place in pro football history.

"No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John," Michaels said in a statement. "There's never been anyone like him and he's been the gold standard for analysts for almost three decades."

Madden began his pro football career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was named head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League.

Madden led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory and retired in 1979. He joined CBS later that year.

He worked at CBS until 1994, when the network lost rights to broadcast NFL games, leading him to switch to Fox. He left Fox in 2002 to become the lead analyst for ABC's "Monday Night Football" and joined NBC in 2006 when that network inaugurated a prime-time Sunday game.

Madden said that for the past several years, he waited until two months after the season to determine whether to continue, not wanting to rush into a decision. He surprised Ebersol when he told him last week he was retiring.

Ebersol flew to California on Wednesday morning and spent 11 hours with Madden, trying to persuade him to change his mind. Ebersol even offered to allow Madden to call games only in September and November and to take October and December off.

"I knew right away there was no way of talking him out of it," Ebersol said. "I knew in his voice he really thought about this."

Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

"There is one thing football fans have agreed on for decades: they all love John Madden," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "John was a Hall of Fame coach before becoming one of the most-celebrated personalities in sports. He had an incredible talent for explaining the game in an unpretentious way that made it more understandable and fun.

"John's respect and passion for the game always stood out. He was the ultimate football fan who also happened to be an extraordinarily talented coach and broadcaster."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[LosingNow]

Enjoy this hilarious impersonation of Madden by Frank Caliendo..

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/XBW7ysPcbT0&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/XBW7ysPcbT0&rel=0</a>

[justforkix]

I dunno, I found his thoughts to be pretty conservative and old-fashioned. For e.g., in Brady's 1st superbowl, he said Brady and NE should play it safe and go to OT when game was tied and Brady was about to start his winning drive. That was a very conservative suggestion, given the stupid NFL OT rule of game over if the team winning the toss, drives in and scores !! Maybe he was a great coach but not a great broadcaster in my books, at least since when I started following NFL, in 2000.

[ramshorns]

A true icon.. a one-of-a-kind broadcaster 
--
Updated: April 16, 2009, 8:28 PM ET

Madden retires after 30 years in booth

NEW YORK -- John Madden is retiring from football announcing, where his enthusiastic, down-to-earth style made him one of sports' most popular broadcasters for three decades.

The Hall of Fame coach spent the last three seasons on NBC's "Sunday Night Football." His final telecast was the Super Bowl in February.

"You know at some point you have to do this -- I got to that point," Madden said on his Bay Area radio show Thursday. "The thing that made it hard is not because I'm second-guessing, 'Is it the right decision?' But I enjoyed it so damn much.

"I enjoyed the game and the players and the coaches and the film and the travel and everything."

Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden, moving over from the network's studio show, NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol said. Collinsworth filled in when Madden took a game off last October.


 NFL.com Video

John Madden discusses what the Hall of Fame means to him.

Ebersol called Madden "absolutely the best sports broadcaster who ever lived."

Madden said his health is fine, but at the age of 73, he wanted to spend more time with his family. His 50th wedding anniversary is this fall, and his five grandchildren are old enough to notice when he's gone.

"If you hated part of it or if something was wrong, it'd be easy," Madden said.

Madden's blue-collar style and love for in-the-trenches football endeared him to fans. His "Madden NFL Football" is the top-selling sports video game of all time.

"We're excited to see his legacy live on in the 21st year of Madden NFL football, and well beyond. It's been a privilege for EA Sports to have had the strong relationship we've had with John for more than two decades and one that will continue into the future," EA Sports president Peter Moore said in a statement.

Madden is reluctant to fly and often traveled to games in a specially equipped bus.

Longtime broadcast partner Al Michaels said Madden will have a unique place in pro football history.

"No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John," Michaels said in a statement. "There's never been anyone like him and he's been the gold standard for analysts for almost three decades."

Madden began his pro football career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was named head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League.

Madden led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory and retired in 1979. He joined CBS later that year.

He worked at CBS until 1994, when the network lost rights to broadcast NFL games, leading him to switch to Fox. He left Fox in 2002 to become the lead analyst for ABC's "Monday Night Football" and joined NBC in 2006 when that network inaugurated a prime-time Sunday game.

Madden said that for the past several years, he waited until two months after the season to determine whether to continue, not wanting to rush into a decision. He surprised Ebersol when he told him last week he was retiring.

Ebersol flew to California on Wednesday morning and spent 11 hours with Madden, trying to persuade him to change his mind. Ebersol even offered to allow Madden to call games only in September and November and to take October and December off.

"I knew right away there was no way of talking him out of it," Ebersol said. "I knew in his voice he really thought about this."

Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

"There is one thing football fans have agreed on for decades: they all love John Madden," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "John was a Hall of Fame coach before becoming one of the most-celebrated personalities in sports. He had an incredible talent for explaining the game in an unpretentious way that made it more understandable and fun.

"John's respect and passion for the game always stood out. He was the ultimate football fan who also happened to be an extraordinarily talented coach and broadcaster."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

John Madden to me is a prognosticator par excellence.  Here is one example I recollect.  In the 1994 Cowboys-49ers NFC championship game on FOX he was asked by Pat what should be the game plan for the 49ers who were an overwhelming underdog to the high octane defending super bowl champs the Cowboys.  Madden said Steve Young should try to get the ball to Jerry Rice and let Jerry's talents take over as much as they can and hope for the best.   Sure enough when the game started it so happended that Young gets a short pass to Rice which he catches and goes the distance some 70 plus yards to put the 49ers up that seems to set the precedent for the game and Cowboys played catch up the whole game and lost.  Madden's point was clear try and get the ball to your playmakers hand and take your chances with them.  Actually that call by Madden became so popular it was in the USA Today columns the next day.  He was great without a doubt.  But he had his favorites and biases.  But then who would not.  I did not like him for the period he was with FOX and Cowboys were reigning supreme.  He seemed to be baised towards them and I hated the Cowboys.  He loved Joe Montana to death.   And he did like Favre a lot too.   And Aikman and Smith and all that group the famous offensive line with Nate Newton, Larry Allen.

But to me this guy has a passion to the game like no one else perhaps more than even Lombardi.  He breathed football so to speak.   Madden brand sells like no other.  He will be missed without a doubt and his unique voice.  It is people like this that interest the borderline fan and make them into real fans. 

When I came to America and started getting into Football Barry Sanders and Madden were my inspirations to get involved with the game learn about it understand its history of it and the whole nine yards.

John Madden is a legend in every sense of it and no one knows football better than him.  He defined the sport.

[LosingNow]

yes, he had his favorites - he loved the Bears, for example. He was "in the trenches, blue-collar" guy.

Rams : Well said. My favorite NFL broadcaster ... just loved his booms, bams, turduckens.. and of course, in-game insights. Also, he was very innovative - coaches clicker comes immediately to mind.

Jfk: good point.. he was traditional and of course, would have made a few bad calls - comes with territory.

[justforkix]

John Madden to me is a prognosticator par excellence.  Here is one example I recollect.  In the 1994 Cowboys-49ers NFC championship game on FOX he was asked by Pat what should be the game plan for the 49ers who were an overwhelming underdog to the high octane defending super bowl champs the Cowboys.  Madden said Steve Young should try to get the ball to Jerry Rice and let Jerry's talents take over as much as they can and hope for the best.    Sure enough when the game started it so happended that Young gets a short pass to Rice which he catches and goes the distance some 70 plus yards to put the 49ers up that seems to set the precedent for the game and Cowboys played catch up the whole game and lost.  Madden's point was clear try and get the ball to your playmakers hand and take your chances with them. 

Duh !! I don't see the big deal about just stating the obvious !!

[ramshorns]

John Madden to me is a prognosticator par excellence.  Here is one example I recollect.  In the 1994 Cowboys-49ers NFC championship game on FOX he was asked by Pat what should be the game plan for the 49ers who were an overwhelming underdog to the high octane defending super bowl champs the Cowboys.  Madden said Steve Young should try to get the ball to Jerry Rice and let Jerry's talents take over as much as they can and hope for the best.    Sure enough when the game started it so happended that Young gets a short pass to Rice which he catches and goes the distance some 70 plus yards to put the 49ers up that seems to set the precedent for the game and Cowboys played catch up the whole game and lost.  Madden's point was clear try and get the ball to your playmakers hand and take your chances with them. 

Duh !! I don't see the big deal about just stating the obvious !!

Everything is obvious after the fact.  Actually at the time Cowboys had a solid defence and they were gearing to take Rice out of the game by denying him the long passes and put safety help on him.  The way Madden laid it out on how to get the ball to Rice and at which position and in which pass plays is what it boiled down to and it is exactly the way it happended when they caught Cowboys offgaurd.  I am the one who simplified it in the post on what he meant in a gist.  Actually it was much more complicated than that.

[LosingNow]

John Madden to me is a prognosticator par excellence.  Here is one example I recollect.  In the 1994 Cowboys-49ers NFC championship game on FOX he was asked by Pat what should be the game plan for the 49ers who were an overwhelming underdog to the high octane defending super bowl champs the Cowboys.  Madden said Steve Young should try to get the ball to Jerry Rice and let Jerry's talents take over as much as they can and hope for the best.    Sure enough when the game started it so happended that Young gets a short pass to Rice which he catches and goes the distance some 70 plus yards to put the 49ers up that seems to set the precedent for the game and Cowboys played catch up the whole game and lost.  Madden's point was clear try and get the ball to your playmakers hand and take your chances with them. 

Duh !! I don't see the big deal about just stating the obvious !!

If it was that obvious.. why didnt the 'boys defend that.

Obvious always becomes common sense .. after the fact

[justforkix]

John Madden to me is a prognosticator par excellence.  Here is one example I recollect.  In the 1994 Cowboys-49ers NFC championship game on FOX he was asked by Pat what should be the game plan for the 49ers who were an overwhelming underdog to the high octane defending super bowl champs the Cowboys.  Madden said Steve Young should try to get the ball to Jerry Rice and let Jerry's talents take over as much as they can and hope for the best.    Sure enough when the game started it so happended that Young gets a short pass to Rice which he catches and goes the distance some 70 plus yards to put the 49ers up that seems to set the precedent for the game and Cowboys played catch up the whole game and lost.  Madden's point was clear try and get the ball to your playmakers hand and take your chances with them. 

Duh !! I don't see the big deal about just stating the obvious !!

If it was that obvious.. why didnt the 'boys defend that.

Obvious always becomes common sense .. after the fact

Nope, it just means Jerry Rice was better than their DBs/CBs. It is obvious because it is like saying give the ball to McGrath or Warne when you need a wicket.

[justforkix]

Everything is obvious after the fact.  Actually at the time Cowboys had a solid defence and they were gearing to take Rice out of the game by denying him the long passes and put safety help on him.  The way Madden laid it out on how to get the ball to Rice and at which position and in which pass plays is what it boiled down to and it is exactly the way it happended when they caught Cowboys offgaurd.  I am the one who simplified it in the post on what he meant in a gist.  Actually it was much more complicated than that.

OK. He may been good pre-2000. Post-2000, since I started following NFL, I found his comments old-fasioned, defensive, conservative. The Pats-Rams superbowl comment that I mentioned earlier was just one of them.

[LosingNow]

Everything is obvious after the fact.  Actually at the time Cowboys had a solid defence and they were gearing to take Rice out of the game by denying him the long passes and put safety help on him.  The way Madden laid it out on how to get the ball to Rice and at which position and in which pass plays is what it boiled down to and it is exactly the way it happended when they caught Cowboys offgaurd.  I am the one who simplified it in the post on what he meant in a gist.  Actually it was much more complicated than that.

OK. He may been good pre-2000. Post-2000, since I started following NFL, I found his comments old-fasioned, defensive, conservative. The Pats-Rams superbowl comment that I mentioned earlier was just one of them.

Admittedly he was not as sharp post-2000.. but that is only the last 10 out of the 30 years he was broadcasting. Also, even post-2000, imo, nobody came close to his abilities - again proves how good he was.

BTW, a distant second to him in analysis was Dan Dierdorf.. unfortunately, ABC dumped him from MNFand now he is doing second best games on CBS. 

[ramshorns]

Everything is obvious after the fact.  Actually at the time Cowboys had a solid defence and they were gearing to take Rice out of the game by denying him the long passes and put safety help on him.  The way Madden laid it out on how to get the ball to Rice and at which position and in which pass plays is what it boiled down to and it is exactly the way it happended when they caught Cowboys offgaurd.  I am the one who simplified it in the post on what he meant in a gist.  Actually it was much more complicated than that.

OK. He may been good pre-2000. Post-2000, since I started following NFL, I found his comments old-fasioned, defensive, conservative. The Pats-Rams superbowl comment that I mentioned earlier was just one of them.

Admittedly he was not as sharp post-2000.. but that is only the last 10 out of the 30 years he was broadcasting. Also, even post-2000, imo, nobody came close to his abilities - again proves how good he was.

BTW, a distant second to him in analysis was Dan Dierdorf.. unfortunately, ABC dumped him from MNFand now he is doing second best games on CBS.

I love Dan Deirdorf too.  A very plesaent man with a lot of football knowledge.  ABC in the name of changing their MNF get up parted with Dan and Frank Gifford.

[LosingNow]

Everything is obvious after the fact.  Actually at the time Cowboys had a solid defence and they were gearing to take Rice out of the game by denying him the long passes and put safety help on him.  The way Madden laid it out on how to get the ball to Rice and at which position and in which pass plays is what it boiled down to and it is exactly the way it happended when they caught Cowboys offgaurd.  I am the one who simplified it in the post on what he meant in a gist.  Actually it was much more complicated than that.

OK. He may been good pre-2000. Post-2000, since I started following NFL, I found his comments old-fasioned, defensive, conservative. The Pats-Rams superbowl comment that I mentioned earlier was just one of them.

Admittedly he was not as sharp post-2000.. but that is only the last 10 out of the 30 years he was broadcasting. Also, even post-2000, imo, nobody came close to his abilities - again proves how good he was.

BTW, a distant second to him in analysis was Dan Dierdorf.. unfortunately, ABC dumped him from MNFand now he is doing second best games on CBS.

I love Dan Deirdorf too.  A very plesaent man with a lot of football knowledge.  ABC in the name of changing their MNF get up parted with Dan and Frank Gifford.

Gifford was getting old.. but the triumvirate of Dan, Al and Frank was awesome.

BTW, Dan loves the Bears too

[ramshorns]

Everything is obvious after the fact.  Actually at the time Cowboys had a solid defence and they were gearing to take Rice out of the game by denying him the long passes and put safety help on him.  The way Madden laid it out on how to get the ball to Rice and at which position and in which pass plays is what it boiled down to and it is exactly the way it happended when they caught Cowboys offgaurd.  I am the one who simplified it in the post on what he meant in a gist.  Actually it was much more complicated than that.

OK. He may been good pre-2000. Post-2000, since I started following NFL, I found his comments old-fasioned, defensive, conservative. The Pats-Rams superbowl comment that I mentioned earlier was just one of them.

Admittedly he was not as sharp post-2000.. but that is only the last 10 out of the 30 years he was broadcasting. Also, even post-2000, imo, nobody came close to his abilities - again proves how good he was.

BTW, a distant second to him in analysis was Dan Dierdorf.. unfortunately, ABC dumped him from MNFand now he is doing second best games on CBS.

I love Dan Deirdorf too.  A very plesaent man with a lot of football knowledge.  ABC in the name of changing their MNF get up parted with Dan and Frank Gifford.

Gifford was getting old.. but the triumvirate of Dan, Al and Frank was awesome.

BTW, Dan loves the Bears too

Man you and your Bears.  Shakes head.....

[kban1]

Just to put things in perspective --

JFK has a point --in so far as much as that madden became stale towards the end of his broadcasting career when he let his folksy and down to earth style carry the day rather than  a lot of the insightful analysis he became famous for.

Which brings us to the point WN and rams are making --through the decade of the 90's, there was no one better, more analytical, or insightful than madden in the booth. With Pat Summeral, he formed an A list team which not only entertained but educated people about the nuances of football.

And the best part of it is that despite his extreme knowledge of the game, the way he commentated was without any supercilousness or any airs about him. he adoped a folksy style which made you think you are talking to the guy on the street but if you listened carefully, he was talking a lot about the game.

Rams, the 1994 Championship game was not determined by Jerry Rice. yes he made a key play in the game which extended the 49ers lead and yes madden talked about Rice in the game but

a) the 49ers were not the underdog, they were the no 1 seed and was favored by 7.5 in the odds
b) 49ers had the best offense, the Cowboys had the best defense (NFL)
c) The match was decided not by Rice but by the opening 3 plays of the game. All 3 were Cowboys possessions, they ended up as INT run back for TD, Fumble which led to TD, INT which led to TD. After 7 minutes in the game, the Cowboys were down 0-21 and that set the game up for the 49ers, not Young to Rice.
d) This was a game of two halves -- in the first half it was the 49ers. In the 2nd half it was the Cowboys who attacked in waves  --so much so that 49er players were on record saying they were relieved when the 60 minutes were over because all they felt were waves. The game ended 38-28 in favor of 49ers  - most people felt the refs goofed up and the match should have gone to overtime.

The match where Rice-Young romped was the SBvs San Diego. Young had 5 TD's Rice caught 3 of them, including 2 long TD's, one 70+ yard as you said.

[ramshorns]

Just to put things in perspective --

 
Rams, the 1994 Championship game was not determined by Jerry Rice. yes he made a key play in the game which extended the 49ers lead and yes madden talked about Rice in the game but

a) the 49ers were not the underdog, they were the no 1 seed and was favored by 7.5 in the odds
b) 49ers had the best offense, the Cowboys had the best defense (NFL)
c) The match was decided not by Rice but by the opening 3 plays of the game. All 3 were Cowboys possessions, they ended up as INT run back for TD, Fumble which led to TD, INT which led to TD. After 7 minutes in the game, the Cowboys were down 0-21 and that set the game up for the 49ers, not Young to Rice.
d) This was a game of two halves -- in the first half it was the 49ers. In the 2nd half it was the Cowboys who attacked in waves  --so much so that 49er players were on record saying they were relieved when the 60 minutes were over because all they felt were waves. The game ended 38-28 in favor of 49ers  - most people felt the refs goofed up and the match should have gone to overtime.

Kban:You are right about that 70 yard TD catch being in the Superbowl but that was not my basis on how long the pass was, just to clarify.  Definitely the defense did play a role.   But when they got the turn over the Young to Rice pass to me(Rice was caught short of the Goal line I think) is what set the tone for the game when 49ers cashed in on the TO and it happened in the lines of what Madden suggested pre-game.  That was my point more than anything else.  Setting the tone.  Ofcourse Cowboys did not help their cause by turning it over and 49ers made it 21-0 instead of field goals that would have kept the boys in the game.  Though 49ers did have the best record at the time and had the home field partly because of playing in a terrible division at the time(Falcons and Saints were atrocious to say the least) man-to-man the Cowboys were the best being the 2 time superbowl champs and that team has so much youth and depth after that 1994 mishap they came back and won the 1995 version.

The match where Rice-Young romped was the SBvs San Diego. Young had 5 TD's Rice caught 3 of them, including 2 long TD's, one 70+ yard as you said.

That game I do not even consider when I evaluate someones greatness.  As you know from my existence on the DG I sometimes rate a 40 better than a 200 in Tests depending on how that played a role in the end result and not the one carried away just by numbers.  Though Young-Rice combo were at their best in that mismatch I always thought of it as just a game of men versus boys.  Not to discredit Ross's Chargers but I am sure what a joke AFC was during that 90's when it was all about the NFC especially the way 49'ers and Cowboys were in that span.  So to me that couple of little pass caught by Rice to ease the nerves against the Cowboys ranks many folds more than the statistical annihilation of the SD Chargers.  I am sure you get the gist of my POV.