12 Facts About John Madden

For millions of Americans Thanksgivings from years gone by were marked by watching the Detroit Lions on TV. Usually the Lions lost, but there was still some mystery surrounding the game. The question remained as to who would be given a drumstick from the turkey, or turducken from by John Madden.

Beyond his propensity for turkeys with six or eight legs, John was perhaps the best NFL color guy in history. In addition, prior to that, he was an outstanding NFL coach. Plus, there is the John Madden football game, which is of course, named after him. Now, on to some facts about John Madden.

1: John attended a Catholic high school, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, located in Daly City, California.

Ironically, I went to the Our Lady of Perpetual Need high school.

2: Before moving to California, John and his family lived in Austin, Minnesota.

Of course, Minnesota is home to numerous great football coaches including Madden, Kyle Shanahan, Sid Gillman and the legendary Tim Waltz.

3: Madden provided NFL commentary for all four major networks, CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox.

The poor guy couldn’t keep a job.

4: John played college football at a number of small colleges, being named all-conference while playing offensive tackle at Cal Poly. His college playing career was marred by injuries.

He was also a catcher on the Cal Poly baseball team. John was not particularly easy on his knees.

5: John was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 21st round of the 1958 draft. He injured a knee injury during training camp and never got a chance to play in the NFL.

The injury allowed him to study film with Eagles’ head coach, Norm Van Brocklin. Madden said this of his journey to coaching, “I ended up with a degree in teaching and my love for football meshed with teaching.” I’m not sure where his ability with a telestrator came from.

6: Madden was very successful as the Raiders head coach, but his team lost six AFL/AFC Championship Games. No doubt most frustrating one was when the Raiders lost to the Steelers 13–7 on Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception.”

I suspect that reception wasn’t so immaculate if you were a Raiders’ fan.

7: John had one of the most successful coaching careers in NFL history, including a Super Bowl win. He retired after coaching the Raiders for ten seasons citing an ulcer and occupational burnout as the reasons.

I suspect that those two things are tied together.

8: Madden’s broadcasting style was punctuated by such expressions as “Boom!”, “Whap!”, “Bang!”, and “Doink!”’

I believe he was also a writer for the Batman TV series.

9: John’s friend, another NFL coach John Robinson, talked John into creating an All-Madden team. Players on that team were named on the basis of playing the game the way it should be played.

I’m guessing that guys with the best TD celebration didn’t make the team.

10: A fear of flying resulted in the creation of the “Madden Cruiser.” The Cruiser was a converted Greyhound bus and contained a private bedroom with a queen-sized bed, along with a bathroom and other luxurious amenities. 

In 2018 Madden donated the Madden Cruiser to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They should rent that thing out as a bed and breakfast. 

11: John earned 16 Sports Emmy Awards.

Those may be even more prestigious than a turkey leg after the Lions’ Thanksgiving game.

12: John said the underlying cause of his aversion to flying was primarily claustrophobia.

But oddly, he was fine with riding a bus.