NFL Reveals Plan to Honor John Madden

The NFL has revealed its plan to honor John Madden who died on Tuesday. Adam Schefter of ESPN obtained a memo sent to all 32 teams in which league commissioner Roger Goodell asks all home teams to hold a moment of silence in honor of Madden. The moment of silence will occur right before the national anthem. 

Goodell then wrote the suggested announcement for public address announcers. “Ladies and gentlemen, earlier this week the NFL family lost a Hall of Fame coach, broadcaster and friend with the passing of John Madden,” the announcement states. “At this time, please stand and join in a moment of silent reflection in memory of John Madden, who had an indelible impact on football, the NFL and generations of fans.”  

Madden was 85 at the time of death. It was revealed that he watched his with his friends and family on Christmas Day. The documentary showed how Madden become a Super Bowl-winning head coach, an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and a video game legend. Madden was interviewed for the documentary as well as NFL legends such as Lawrence Taylor, Bill Belichick, Joe Montana and Tom Brady. 

“Coach John Madden was an NFL icon, who played, coached and gave his name to a video game,” Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera wrote on Twitter. “But to me he offered his time, wisdom and coaching insight. I was truly blessed to have him as a mentor!RIP Coach.”

“Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football,” Goodell said in a statement. “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.”  

Most NFL today know Madden as a broadcaster or the guy from the video game series Madden NFL. But when Madden was elected to the Pro Football of Fame, he said,  “I’m a coach, always been a coach.” Madden was only a head coach in the NFL for 10 years but was one of the most successful coaches of all time. In his 10 seasons with the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders), Madden won 103 games and never had a losing season. He led the Raiders to seven league/conference championships and won the Super Bowl in 1976.