There are some people you think will be around forever and Madden was one of them. Now that Pat Summerall has his partner back with him, they can do play by play for God.
This one bums me out. John Madden was a decent part of my life from his amazing commentary to being the face of one of my favorite video game franchises until 2008. When the snow dies down I will go out and eat a big turkey leg in his honor while saying, "BOOM!" while talking about how I like the lineman with the big butts.
I can remember many of his game calls from childhood and throughout my early life. One that always stuck with me is when the teleprompter first came out. It was a Thanksgiving game, and he was demonstrating how the average QB threw a spiral and how the QB on TV did it. He started by saying, "Most quarterbacks throw the ball like this" (he drew big circular squiggles). "But this guy, he throws the ball like this and gets a heck of a lot of velocity" (he draws very small, tight circles). I was just a kid but thought, "This guy is a genius or he's completely nuts doing that on TV." He will be dearly missed- fewer names ring truer when I think of football.
Damn, don't even know what to say. Sure would like to be a fly on the wall when Madden and Shula get together to watch football games. RIP coach. NFL needs to do something big for him. He needs an award named after him (Madden MVP?) or the field at the Hall of Fame named Madden Field or his name on the ring of honor in every stadium. Something huge Man was a GOD of the NFL
For me it’s a little bit of a pity he became so famous as a broadcaster and face of a video game franchise. The man was an amazing football coach, taking players no one else could handle and turning them into one of the great dynasties.
Madden and Summerall were the best sports commentators of all time. Period! If it wasn't for the early Madden games on the Mega Drive, I probably wouldn't have grown to love American football. I learned by playing that game, which inspired me to read all I could about the sport. RIP Big Fella. "Boom! He's on his back!"
I loved Madden and Summerall in the movie "The Replacements". "Have you ever seen anything like THAT before"? "Not on a football field".
Even though the Simpsons Episode of the Superbowl wasn't very good I loved Madden in it. The part at the end when he is complaing about the lack of football in the episode and finally screaming at the end when Vincent Price comes out of no where, "That doesn't make a lick of sense!" My friends and I used that line a lot after that.
He had a huge impact on the NFL and football videogames. I knew he was getting up there in age, so it was kinda expected, but still sad.
IMO he might have had the greatest impact on the sport of anyone. He might just be THE legend of the league. From his Hall of Fame coaching career, to being possibly the top broadcaster of not just the NFL but sports in general to his partnership with EA and the Madden game franchise he may have brought and taught more fans than anyone. As a kid though, what I remember most was the commercial for Tinactin lol. BOOM, Tough actin' Tinactin!
Oh my gosh- I had no idea what you were talking about until you wrote the line! Then I vividly remembered him saying that...those commercials ran for years!
Thanksgiving Day with the family, cold outside, Madden/Summerall on the TV. His voice was football. Most greats go to be with the football gods. John Madden becomes one of the football gods that everyone else will go see.