NFL Hall of Fame coach, broadcasting icon John Madden dies at 85

Waking up to some sad news this morning. Legendary for NFL head coach and broadcaster John Madden has died.

Madden was one half of my favorite all-time broadcasting team, with the other being Pat Summerall. Back in the eighties and early nineties - which remains my favorite era of the NFL and which also just might have been the golden era for the league - they were the faces and especially the voices of NFL football. He and Summerall formed the top broadcasting team for CBS from 1981 - 1993 covering NFC games at the time when that conference was far and away the dominant one, and then for a few more years with FOX Sports, when CBS lost NFC games. 

The team worked very well because Summerall's calm demeanor somehow balanced Madden's highly energetic approach. Together, they were in the booth for some truly classic games, including a number of Super Bowls, and a whole bunch of NFC Championship Games, including "The Catch" and other classic Cowboys-49ers NFC title games. They also were the team that worked for my personal favorite game in NFL history, the Giants-49ers NFC Championship Game in January of 1991.

Before working in the broadcast booth, Madden had been the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, leading that team to seven AFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl XI championship after the 1976 season.

He was 85 years old.

 

NFL Hall of Fame coach, broadcasting icon John Madden dies at 85 by ESPN News Services, December 28, 2021:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32953839/nfl-hall-fame-coach-broadcasting-icon-john-madden-dies-85