![]() ![]() As a result, people rarely made the same mistake twice. He believes that the harder you are on people, the better they will perform. “That’s not always the best trait in the world, but that’s how he did it, and the results speak for themselves - as both a coach and an announcer. ![]() “People may not know this, but John is extremely demanding of people,” says Stenner. We had to tailor what we did to meet those demands.”ĭespite his playful on-air persona, however, Madden was also known as a model perfectionist, demanding the same level of excellence from his crew as from himself. He believed that the more you could see, the better it was. “Everyone always wanted to get tighter and tighter, but John always wanted wider and wider. “When there’s a book written about directing football, there needs to be an entire chapter dedicated to directing for John Madden because he changed the way things are done,” says Grossman. As a result, the look and feel of the telecast underwent a drastic transformation that has since become the norm. This attention to detail seeped into the broadcast, as Madden pioneered the use of a telestrator to illustrate his points more clearly to viewers. And he would sit with coaches and coordinators and go over every single player on the flip card - whether they were first-string or third-string.” We would watch hours of tape together before every game. But John prepared in a totally different and new way. “Before John, we didn’t look at a lot of game tape, and we would mostly just talk to the PR people before games. “John totally changed the way we did things,” says Stenner. As a former coach, he saw game-tape analysis and extensive pregame interviews as an integral part to the preparation process. However, the booth was not the only place where Madden made his mark. They knew just what the viewer wanted, and they knew just how to get it to them.” But, when they stepped into that booth, they could not have been more on the same page. “John and Pat are very different people and very different announcers. Summerall’s reserved but poignant play-by-play style provided the perfect foil for Madden’s animated, long-form analysis. Over the next 21 years, the two would call 300-plus games and eight Super Bowls, more than any other broadcasting team in history. In 1979, Madden began his second life as a color commentator, and, after just two seasons in the booth, CBS Sports elevated him to its NFL A-team, pairing him with the veteran Summerall. “As a coach, he provided a different perspective and new way of bringing the game to the viewer.” “I think John’s coaching experience obviously helped a great deal,” says Bob Stenner, who produced Madden’s telecasts during his years at CBS and Fox. 763 regular-season winning percentage is still the highest of any coach to spend at least 100 games on the sideline. He led the Raiders to 10 consecutive winning seasons and the Super Bowl XI title before retiring following the 1978 season as the youngest coach ever to win 100 games (112-39-7 overall). Madden segued into the pro game when the Oakland Raiders brought him on as an assistant in 1967, and he became the youngest coach in the league two years later at the age of 32. He quickly made his way into coaching, first at Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, CA, and then as an assistant at San Diego State University under coaching legend Don Coryell. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 21st round of the 1958 NFL Draft, but a knee injury ended his professional career before it could begin. Madden grew up just outside San Francisco and earned all-conference honors as an offensive tackle (although he started on both offense and defense) at Cal Poly University. It was football, it was fun, it was insight, it was the whole package.” “He was brilliant at bridging the gap between sports and entertainment. ![]() “John had the ability to talk to every level of fan,” says Sandy Grossman, who spent more than two decades directing Madden and his long-time play-by-play partner, Pat Summerall, at CBS and Fox. During 50-plus years in football, the Pro Football Hall-of-Famer cemented his standing as a cultural icon, attracting a whole new audience to the game and driving interest in the NFL like never before. Known as much for his lively, colorful personality as for his in-depth commentary, he spent three decades calling NFL games for all four major networks. No portion of this site may be reproduced without the express written permission of the Las Vegas Raiders.In the business of sports broadcasting, few names are as ubiquitous as John Madden’s. ![]()
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