The death of former Oakland Raiders head coach John Madden at the age of 85 Tuesday evening shocked and saddened the entire NFL world.
For youngsters, Madden is known primarily from the video-game franchise with his likeness. For those a bit longer in the tooth, it was Madden’s success for the then-Oakland Raiders from 1969-78 that defined him as a football man. During that span, Madden boasted a 103-32-7 record. He still holds the mark for the highest winning percentage for a head coach in NFL history.
The sudden death of Madden has saddened generations of football fans, players and coaches. He truly was a larger-than-life figure. A gentle soul. A highly respected individual.
Jon Gruden reacted to Madden’s passing on Wednesday. In the process, he paid his respects to the Hall of Fame head coach.
“He was what football and the Raiders are all about. God Bless the Madden family,” Gruden said in a text message to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
John Madden and all-time great Raiders head coaches
Here’s a look at the top Raiders head coaches in history and where Mr. Madden stands. It is stunning to see what type of success he had with the Silver and Black.
- John Rauch: .772 (coached three seasons)
- John Madden: .731
- Tom Flores: .619
- Al Davis: .583
- Art Shell: .513
- Jon Gruden: .512
- Jack Del Rio: .510
- Hue Jackson: .500
Others pay their respects to John Madden
“He set the standard for coaching in his era. Certainly did a lot for the league and the competitiveness of the league. He was a great champion for minorities and minority scouting. And some of the great players that they had with the Raiders, you know, from some of the smaller Black colleges, that he and coach (Al) Davis brought into the organization. He moved to broadcasting, certainly increased the popularity of the game single-handedly by quite a bit. I don’t know how you’d ever measure it,” New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Wednesday. “A lot of people who probably didn’t even care about football found John entertaining and probably watched football because of him.”
Those represent some kind words from a man in Belichick who has won six Super Bowl titles as a head coach and boasts the third-most wins among NFL coaches, behind only Don Shula and George Halas.
Others followed suit on social media.
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