Today, the sports world mourns as Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster John Madden has died, the NFL announced. As a broadcaster, Madden’s exuberant calls and simple explanations provided the soundtrack to weekly NFL games for three decades. He was 85. The NFL said that Madden died unexpectedly and did not detail a cause of death.
Madden first gained fame in a decade-long run as the coach of the renegade Oakland Raiders, making it to seven AFC title games and winning the Super Bowl following the 1976 season. He compiled an impressive 103-32-7 regular-season record, and his .759 winning percentage still stands as the best among NFL coaches with more than 100 games.
As impressive as that is, it’s what Madden would go on to do after his premature retirement from coaching that truly made him a household name. Madden educated football viewers across the nation with his use of the telestrator on broadcasts. He entertained millions with his exuberant interjections of “Boom” and “Doink” throughout games. He even became the face of “Madden NFL Football,” one of the most successful sports video games of all time, and was a best-selling author.
Above all, he was the preeminent television sports analyst for most of his three decades of calling games, winning him an unprecedented 16 Emmy Awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality. He covered 11 Super Bowls across four networks from 1979-2009. “Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football,” said Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the NFL.
