SPORTS
A10 — THE OBSERVER
Former Raiders coach
John Madden dies at 85
By JOSH DUBOW
The Associated Press
John Madden, the Hall of
Fame coach turned broad-
caster whose exuberant
calls combined with simple
explanations provided a
weekly soundtrack to NFL
games for three decades,
died Tuesday morning, the
league said. He was 85.
The NFL said he died
unexpectedly and did not
detail a cause.
Madden gained fame in
a decade-long stint as the
coach of the renegade Oak-
land Raiders, making it to
seven AFC title games and
winning the Super Bowl
following the 1976 season.
He compiled a 103-32-7
regular-season record, and
his .759 winning percentage
is the best among NFL
coaches with more than 100
games.
But it was his work after
prematurely retiring as
coach at age 42 that made
Madden truly a house-
hold name. He educated
a football nation with his
use of the telestrator on
broadcasts; entertained
millions with his inter-
jections of “Boom!” and
“Doink!” throughout
games; was an omnipresent
pitchman selling restau-
rants, hardware stores and
beer; became the face of
“Madden NFL Football,”
one of the most successful
sports video games of all-
time; and was a best-selling
author.
Most of all, he was the
preeminent television sports
analyst for most of his three
decades calling games,
winning an unprecedented
16 Emmy Awards for out-
standing sports analyst/per-
sonality, and covering 11
Super Bowls for four net-
works from 1979-2009.
“People always ask, are
you a coach or a broad-
caster or a video game
guy?” he said when was
elected to the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. “I’m a coach,
always been a coach.”
He started his broad-
casting career at CBS after
leaving coaching in great
part because of his fear of
ﬂ ying. He and Pat Sum-
merall became the net-
work’s top announcing duo.
Madden then helped give
Fox credibility as a major
network when he moved
there in 1994, and went on
to call prime-time games
at ABC and NBC before
retiring following Pitts-
burgh’s thrilling 27-23 win
over Arizona in the 2009
Super Bowl.
“I am not aware of
anyone who has made a
more meaningful impact
on the National Foot-
ball League than John
Madden, and I know of no
one who loved the game
more,” Dallas Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones said in a
statement.
Burly and a little
unkempt, Madden earned
a place in America’s heart
with a likable, unpre-
tentious style that was
refreshing in a sports world
of spiraling salaries and
prima donna stars. He rode
from game to game in his
own bus because he suf-
fered from claustrophobia
and had stopped ﬂ ying. For
a time, Madden gave out a
“turducken” — a chicken
stuﬀ ed inside a duck stuﬀ ed
inside a turkey — to the
outstanding player in the
Thanksgiving game that he
called.
“Nobody loved football
more than Coach. He was
football,” NFL Commis-
sioner Roger 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 foot-
ball and the NFL what it is
today.”
When he ﬁ nally retired
from the broadcast booth,
leaving NBC’s “Sunday
Night Football,” col-
leagues universally praised
Madden’s passion for the
sport, his preparation, and
his ability to explain an
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
ON THE SLATE
THURSDAY, DEC. 30
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Joseph at Dufur, 1:30 p.m.
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PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
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FRIDAY, DEC. 31
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
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PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
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Joseph at Wallowa, 5 p.m.
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The Associated Press, File
Oakland coach John Madden
stands on the sideline during an
NFL football game in October
1978.
often-complicated game in
down-to-earth terms.
Al Michaels, Madden’s
broadcast partner for seven
years on ABC and NBC,
said working with him “was
like hitting the lottery.”
“He was so much more
than just football — a keen
observer of everything
around him and a man who
could carry on a smart con-
versation about hundreds
and hundreds of topics. The
term ‘Renaissance Man’ is
tossed around a little too
loosely these days, but John
was as close as you can
come,” Michaels said.
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