Madden. What a character. God bless him!
Is Brett Favre going to TIVO it?
“Madden is on the field, he want’s to know if it is real! They said yes! Get yer big butt outta here! He does!” Bay Area announcing legend describing Madden’s, and the ref’s, reactions following the Raider’s incredible ‘Holy Roller’ play, 1978.
Just looked at video of Paul Simon’s recording “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard”...It has Mickey Mantle and John Madden in it...GREAT!!!!
He was original and genuine. That was enough.
He also has, or had, a five minute or so spot on local radio in the Bay Area where he just talks about stuff, vaguely like Andy Rooney used to do on 60 minutes, but more folksy. Mrs. Flash, who doesn’t know the front end of a football from the back end (they’re round where she comes from) knows him from these spots.
When my son was five and thought crashing into people was fun, we signed him up for football in the city rec program. I bought a children’s book explaining football by this guy I had seen on tv- John Madden. It was really informative, about football, and about Madden himself. You could picture him as a kid in an empty lot with his school chums, learning the game by doing it. The last part of the book falls apart with too much name dropping and too little teaching, but the book is still well worth it. I think it is called The First Book of Football.
The Miller Lite commercials were hilarious.