RIP John Madden

[aloha b.]

John Madden legendary coach & broadcasting icon unexpectedly died today at age 85.

RIP Mr. Madden you are a true football legend.

[nitram]

What an iconic legend! Best winning percentage in NFL History and IMHO one of the best if not THE best football broadcaster, ever. RIP Coach.

[dlygrisse]

NFL Legend. Greatest color commentator ever. 

[bscinstnct]

Madden was the best, nobody call a game like him,

 

”You got the big ole tackle pulling out here then BAM!”

 

And the way he talk even about the dirt and mud get you so into the game lol

 

Actually just remembered a story he told, think it was when he hosted SNL, I still remember it…

 

 

 

Madden was coaching the Raiders and after one game, he’s in the locker room by the toilets and he sees one of his linebackers just staring into a toilet.

 

He’s thinking the guy is goofy, maybe got kicked in the head, so he says,

 

”Hey, why are you looking in the toilet?”

 

The linebacker says, “Damn, I dropped some change in there”

 

So, Madden is chuckling and then the linebacker pulls out his wallet, pulls out a $20 dollar bill, and WHAP! He throws  the bill right into the toilet!

 

Madden is like, “What the heck are you doing?!”

 

The linebacker reaches into the toilet and says,

 

”Well, I sure as hell wasn’t reaching in here for 50 cents”

 

 

🤣

[mizuno player]

He changed the way the all sports are broadcast. 

[Qqq123xx]

[MtlJeff]

For people 40yrs old and under---Madden was still an icon

 

We grew up playing Madden football like it was religion.

 

Really crappy when these things happen, like someone who was such a big part of your childhood for whatever reason.

 

I just made a turducken joke on a work conference only a couple of weeks ago!

[dlygrisse]

2 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

For people 40yrs old and under---Madden was still an icon

 

We grew up playing Madden football like it was religion.

 

Really crappy when these things happen, like someone who was such a big part of your childhood for whatever reason.

 

I just made a turducken joke on a work conference only a couple of weeks ago!

I have a friend who makes a Turducken every year for the holidays 

[touch]

Here is a special something I discovered on ESPN.com today among the many memories shared with the passing of John Madden. I loved Summerall and Madden a ton and enjoyed them in the booth together for decades. They were always my preferred choice to hear call a game.  

 

💥

❤️

 

 On Sept. 11, 2001, Peggy Fleming was giving a speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, when news broke of a terrorist attack. The Olympic figure skating legend finished talking at the breast cancer awareness fundraiser and went back to her hotel. She connected with her agent at IMG, who told her there was no way she was going to be able to get home to California anytime soon.

She didn't think she could handle the cross-country drive by herself in a rental car. So for five days, she stayed in a hotel in Wilkes-Barre. Then her agent called her with a surprise: John Madden, another client at the agency, was on his way to California from New York in his Cruiser. He'd offered to pick her up.

On Sept. 17, the Cruiser pulled in. Fleming was there with her luggage, and jokingly stuck her thumb up, like a hitchhiker. The doors flew open, and Madden swung his head out. "Get in!" he yelled.

She hopped on and spent the next 52 hours watching coverage of the terrorist attacks and talking about winning a gold medal, surviving breast cancer, their families, everything. Fleming and Madden were both particularly struck by the visible signs of a unified country -- flags on cars, farmers painting their barns red, white and blue, the national anthem playing at gas stations along the way. "It was such a scary, uncertain time," she says now. "We didn't know what the future held. But I had my big new buddy, John Madden, and it felt so safe on that bus."

Fleming was blown away by the efficiency of the Madden Cruiser operation. Two drivers alternated for the entire trip with only occasional stops to eat or stretch their legs. They put up a curtain at night and made up the fold-out couch in the middle of the bus for Fleming, then Madden would say goodnight and head for his bedroom in the back.

"I want to earn my way on the trip," she told Madden at one point, and she meant it. So Madden told her she could come on his weekly radio show from the Cruiser, and that he was going to get out in Nebraska and scrub the giant Cruiser windows, and she was welcome to help out. So she did both.

When they got to Omaha, Madden and Fleming grabbed a bite to eat and hit some local shops. Fleming mentioned that she wasn't loving the current state of her hair and wished she had something to cover it up. Madden said, "Peggy, let me buy you a hat." So she picked out a black felt cowboy hat, Madden insisted on paying for it, and she wore it the rest of the way.

A few days later, the bus pulled up in Pleasanton, and Fleming's husband was there waiting for her. They hung out for an hour or two, but soon it was time to go. Madden shook hands with Fleming and she headed home to Los Gatos. She still puts on the cowboy hat from time to time, a reminder of an unlikely new friend. "He'll always be my buddy," she says.

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by touch