John Madden, 85, a former football coach, TV commentator and football legend whose name is on the football’s hall of fame, died Tuesday morning (28). The information was confirmed by the NFL, the league that organizes the sport in the USA. The cause of death has yet to be released.
“On behalf of the NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families,” said Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner, referring to Madden’s wife and children. “No one loved football more than he did. There will never be another John Madden. We owe him a debt for everything he did to make the NFL what it is today.”
After trying to be a player – he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles – and not being able to play even a game as a professional because of a knee injury, Madden began his career off the field as assistant coach of the Oakland Raiders (now Las Las Vegas). Vegas Raiders) in 1967.
Two years later, at 32, as one of the youngest coaches in NFL history, he became the team’s coach. He spent ten years in the position and, during that period, reached the final of the American Football Conference –a semifinal of the NFL– seven times and won the Super Bowl, the sport’s highest title, of the 1976 season, played at the beginning of the following year. The final was against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who defended the cup.
But his job after an early retirement at 42, which was largely due to his fear of airplanes, is what really made him known to Americans and transformed his name as one of the mainstays in the history of the sport.
He spent three decades as the leading sports analyst on TV, with a simple and straightforward language, having great influence on American society.
Fame made him the poster boy for a range of products — from beer to construction shops. He also gives his name to one of the most successful video games of all time, the Madden NFL Football franchise, so popular that NFL stars rave about their ratings in the virtual environment, and has written best-sellers about the game. sport.
As a commentator, he won an Emmy 16 times and worked for CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC between 1979 and 2009.
Madden won over an American audience by explaining a game in a way satisfying to both sports connoisseurs and newbies.
“My dad was a mechanic, and he worked hard, but I never worked a day in my life. I was a player, I became a coach and then a commentator. I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Madden said when he was named to the hall of fame. sport in 2006. He also said, at the time, that he considered himself a coach above all other things.
He also had his idiosyncrasies, like attending departures on a private bus, because of his fear of planes. But it wasn’t just any bus. The “Madden Cruiser” had TVs, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a bedroom with a king bed, and even a sauna.
Tom Brady, one of the biggest names in the history of the sport, wished on his Instagram condolences to Madden’s family. “He was always so good to me. Rest in peace, legend of the game,” he said.
Madden leaves behind his wife, Virginia, to whom he has been married for 62 years, and their children, Joseph and Michael.
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