I was born in Oakland way back when it was still habitable.
A serious fan of the Raiders before and especially during Madden’s time as coach. Not much after that. But damn, it was a great time to be a Raider fan and a Madden fan.
I recall reading that he was afraid of flying and took the train instead.
plus the outstanding Oakland A’s baseball teams of the mid 70’s...loved the uniform colors..the white spikes....all so cool....