We lost a giant yesterday in John Madden. A Super Bowl champion coach who retired at the age of 42. The most most influential NFL broadcaster of all-time for the league who had various stincts at CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox.
An absolute legend who leaves us at the age of 85 with a multitude of human memories which forever touched me.
Above all else…John Madden was a kind man who was adored by his players and fans alike.
In my formative years I would say or hope the three figures in sports who I respected the most as a young man growing up were Vince Lombardi, Roberto Clemente, and John Madden.
Winning is one thing, winning with dignity and class is another and John Madden exuded class and human dignity in his career as both a coach and broadcaster.
I always think of John Madden when I think back on the tragic hit by Jack Tatum on Daryl Stingley when Madden was coach of the Raiders.
In his autobiograhpy Daryl Stingley desribes how John Madden was there for him constantly in the aftemath of the play which paralyzed Daryl Stingley for life.
John Madden felt so bad about the play which was back then a legal hit he became a part of Daryl Stingley’s life thereafter.
What I’ll remember most about John Madden beyond the Hall of Fame accomplishments was the fact he a was kind man who in this case helped both Daryl Stingley and Jack Tatum through a horrible incident which affected both of their lives forever.
John Madden was a kind man and that should be his everlasting legacy.