Madden

Note: I usually don’t write much about sports on this blog because I know that a good half of my “audience” could care less about the intricacies of the NBA Draft or why it sucks to be a Raider fan. But I haven’t had just a whole lot of blog fodder (such as a dead rabbit in the street) lately and so a sport column is what I have to offer today.

Yesterday it was announced that longtime NFL analyst John Madden was retiring. The news was less than shocking as there has been some speculation over the last few months that Madden was on his way out. Still, this announcement was somewhat out of the blue and left me, perhaps like many others, to consider his legacy.

As a coach, Madden was one of the best. He spent about a decade with the Raiders, winning one Super Bowl and compiling the best winning percentage of any coach in the history of the game. But his coaching resume pales in comparison to what he’s done away from the field. Madden picked up with CBS after the 1979 season and has been in the broadcast booth ever since. He was the go-to color analyst for many years, jumping from CBS to Fox and from Fox to Monday Night Football. For many, he has been THE voice of the NFL. His fear of flying has become well known, as he almost always takes his custom RV from city to city. Even his endorsement deals, from ACE Hardware to Tinactin foot cream, are easily recognized and remembered.

Without question his greatest contribution to the sports world is the video game named after him. “Madden” is routinely one of the best selling games year in and year out no matter what gaming platform one might prefer. This year will mark the 21st installment of the game and it shows no signs of slowing down, no matter if John is in the booth or not. Just about every gamer of the last 15 years has, at one point or another, played, if not owned a “Madden” game.

Over the last decade, Madden’s commentary has quite often come under fire. In truth, it seemed more and more like he was either less interested in the games he was watching or his mind wasn’t working as fast as it once had. Never an intellectual by any means, what Madden brought to the table was an insight only a man involved with the game for 60 years could offer and once that ability began to deteriorate so did his credibility. I know plenty of sports fans who could barely stand to watch a Madden-analyzed game because his commentary was so poor.

Still, even at his worse, Madden had moments of greatness. Every once in a while he’d pick up on something that no one else would see and bring it to the viewers attention. Perhaps the most casual of sports fan doesn’t care about these little details but a lot of hardened fans do. His knowledge of the game is outstanding and that came out more often than not, even if you had to suffer through a little annoyance to get to it. The Madden video games taught many a football fans that never played the game some of the ins and outs of play calls, zone defenses, and the SAM linebacker. And, for me at least, his voice has become synonymous with nighttime football, be it Sunday or Monday.

I liken Madden to his college basketball contemporary Dick Vitale. Many a basketball fan cannot stand Vitale’s analysis, no matter how insightful it may be. Both Madden and Vitale can be loud and obnoxious and if you’re not paying really close attention you can completely miss the points they try to make. But like Vitale with college basketball, Madden is a FACE for the NFL. In a world that changes dramatically from year to year, he’s been one of the faces of the league for over 30 years. An entire generation (or two, or three) knows his name, his face, his voice. Whatever shortcomings he has displayed over the last decade have been more than made up for by the good he has done in that time.

I’m not going to claim that the NFL is suddenly worse for having seen a legend move on to another phase of life. In all honesty, his replacement Cris Collingsworth is a pretty solid broadcaster in his own right and is probably an upgrade from day one. But stepping in for one of the league’s all time greats won’t be an easy task by any means. Madden is and has been a tremendous ambassador for the sport and his presence in the broadcasting booth will be surely missed.