John Madden Retires (1 Viewer)

[FABMAN]

John Madden, the burly former coach who has been one of pro football's most popular broadcast analysts for three decades, is calling it quits.

Madden worked for the past three seasons on NBC "Sunday Night Football." His last telecast was the Super Bowl between Arizona and Pittsburgh.

"It's time," Madden said. "I'm 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. I have two great sons and their families and their five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I'm home and, more importantly, when I'm not."

Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden, moving over from the network's studio show, NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol said. Collinsworth filled in when Madden took a game off last October.

 

[Suzie Q]

Finally! I can listen to a game without the useless jibber jabber!

 

[mick]

wonder what al michaels will do?
have always enjoyed madden's commentary - took a while to like him
though as he coached the raiders to a super bowl victory over our
hopeless vikings.

try not to hi-jack too much - but just heard the other day what 4 teams
will have 5 guaranteed nat. TV games each......no surprise here.
dallas, pittsburgh, ny giants and chicago - unless they're playing the vikes,
there's 20 games i could care less about.

 

[clwill]

I think it's long overdue.

YouTube - frank caliendo

Frank Caliendo. Better John Madden than the man himself.

 

[Suzie Q]

If Frank Caliendo would replace Madden then it would be like getting 15 new announcers!!!

 

[Bullard Anderson]

Madden did a great job over the years. He was there to give the best he could to the game and also entertained you. I've never been skewed one way or the other by announcers on TV. Whether is was Bob Costas, Joe Buck, or even Paul Page, the event took precedent of the guys in the booth. They've all paid their dues to get there and deserve some respect. John was good at his job.

I hope he enjoys life off the bus!!

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

Like him or not, he was a remarkable person and one heck of a lover of the game of football. When Darryl Stingley was severely injured by Jack Tatum's hit in a game against Oakland where John was the coach, the story goes that John visited Darryl almost every day during his hospital stay in the bay area. He was deeply saddened to see Darryl's career come to a close and his life altered in such a moment as that. I believe it is what ultimately prompted John to say goodbye to coaching. I hated him as a coach and found him to be one of the best informed broadcasters who ever sat behind a mic and I learned to love him there. His fear of flying added flair to his illustrious career as "The man in the bus."

Fast forward to the beginning of his broadcasting career where he and Pat Summerall put me to sleep for nearly a decade of doing Sunday afternoon ball (usually Cowboys games) I can remember when NFL rules were actually changed because of his broadcasting remarks. "The ground can't cause a fumble" were his very words that prompted the very rule change that now says "The ground can't cause a fumble." While the refs on the field conversed at length about the outcome of a play where a running back hit the ground and the ball popped out, John insisted "It's impossible for that to be a fumble, as he was already downed by the ground before the ball broke loose!"

He had remarkable insights as well as comedic idiosyncrasies (that's where Frank Caliendo comes in.)

Thanks for a great legacy John.

 

[badger]

Like him or not, he was a remarkable person and one heck of a lover of the game of football. When Darryl Stingley was severely injured by Jack Tatum's hit in a game against Oakland where John was the coach, the story goes that John visited Darryl almost every day during his hospital stay in the bay area. He was deeply saddened to see Darryl's career come to a close and his life altered in such a moment as that. I believe it is what ultimately prompted John to say goodbye to coaching. I hated him as a coach and found him to be one of the best informed broadcasters who ever sat behind a mic and I learned to love him there. His fear of flying added flair to his illustrious career as "The man in the bus."

Fast forward to the beginning of his broadcasting career where he and Pat Summerall put me to sleep for nearly a decade of doing Sunday afternoon ball (usually Cowboys games) I can remember when NFL rules were actually changed because of his broadcasting remarks. "The ground can't cause a fumble" were his very words that prompted the very rule change that now says "The ground can't cause a fumble." While the refs on the field conversed at length about the outcome of a play where a running back hit the ground and the ball popped out, John insisted "It's impossible for that to be a fumble, as he was already downed by the ground before the ball broke loose!"

He had remarkable insights as well as comedic idiosyncrasies (that's where Frank Caliendo comes in.)

Thanks for a great legacy John.

Very well said!

 

[PJ]

The last couple of seasons have been rough but prior to that he was the best. Loved watching him as he knew the game AND loved the game, two much needed qualities in any announcer.

Happy retirement John.....


Do we start a pool on when the rumors will start that he's returning to coaching lol. Al Davis is fumbling for his phone now

 

[vegasnitro]

This actually made the news on the cruise ship this week ... was watching CNN international (which originates from London rather than Atlanta) and all the news was about Somali pirates, English soccer and John Madden! Besides the Madden franchise of games ... do they even know who Madden is over there?

 

[clwill]

CNN/I's market isn't foreigners, it's Americans abroad. That's why you'll see it in all the hotels frequented by Americans, and other places where Americans congregate. Most people in other countries watch things like Sky News or Al Jazeera.

 

[Joker]

I used to really enjoy Madden but the last 5 or 6 years all he has done is get on my nerves. Even though, it still wont be the same without him. Though I'm not going to miss the BOOM, the tackles tackled, the blockers blocked, the receiver caught the ball, the running back hit his hole and boom he was off, etc. Mr Obvious will be missed though. I guess most of all, I wont miss hearing the manlove for Brett Farve.

 

[DrRocket]

Wonder if this means they're going to retire his vid game series as well?

Probably not, he doesn't have to travel for that. He says he has family he rarely gets to see during the season and wanted to spend time with them. Certainly can't blame him for that.