John Madden, the legendary NFL coach and broadcaster who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died unexpectedly on Tuesday morning, the league announced. He was 85 years old. The cause of death was not announced, but this comes a few days after his documentary
“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”
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Madden was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969-1978. In his 10 seasons with the Raiders, Madden won 103 games and led the team to an AFL Championship game, six AFC Championship games and a Super Bowl title in 1976. Madden’s worst season with the Raiders was his final season in 1978 when they went 9-7. He has the best winning percentage (.763) for any NFL head coach who has coached in at least 100 games.
Once Madden retired from coaching, he transitioned to the broadcasting booth. He worked as a TV analyst for CBS Sports from 1979-1993. He then made the move to Fox Sports in 1994 and was there until 2001. From there, Madden worked for ABC Sports and was the commentator for Monday Night Football. And from 2006-2008, Madden moved over the NBC Sports to be the commentator for Sunday Night Football.
But the younger generation knows Madden for his video games. Since 1988, Madden’s name has been used for the EA Sports football video game series Madden NFL. In 2012, Madden told Grantland the Madden NFL series is a way for people to learn the game and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level.” Madden is survived by his wife Virginia and two sons, Joseph and Michael.
