John Madden has tragically passed away today.
The last few years have been an incredibly rough go for everyone worldwide in regards to both real-life challenges and dealing with sad and devastating celebrity deaths, many of which have come in shocking fashion. The wide world of professional sports has seen more than its fair share of passings in recent memory with fans all across the USA and other countries worldwide still mourning some of the biggest names in the industry.
It all seemingly started with the tragic passing of Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, who perished along with his daughter Gianna and nine of their youth basketball colleagues in a helicopter crash in January 2020. After losing Kobe, it only got worse with legendary sports figures leaving this life at an alarming rate.
2021 alone has seen baseball fans losing iconic pitcher Hank Aaron and manager Tommy Lasorda while basketball fans mourn Lakers legend and original NBA superstar Elgin Baylor. These deaths aren’t even limited to older members of the sports world either after Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas was found dead in his home shortly before his 34th birthday.
Now, football fans are feeling yet another round of shocking sadness thanks to breaking news about the loss of an important piece of the sport’s history.
NFL Legend, Hall of Fame Coach, Iconic Broadcaster, John Madden has Passed Away at the age of 85.
Multiple news outlets have reported that NFL legend John Madden has passed away at the age of 85. No cause of death was revealed, although it was said to be an unexpected passing.
To say that John Madden had an extensive history with professional football is something of a massive understatement, having made his name almost synonymous with the USA’s most popular professional sports league. Although he started off as a practice squad player for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 due to a major knee injury, his legacy would go way beyond the field of play in more ways than one.
John Madden quickly moved to the college coaching ranks before finding himself with the Oakland Raiders in 1967 as the club’s linebacker’s coach. He was promoted to head coach of the Raiders in 1969, where he stayed for ten years and built an impressive resume in Northern California.
Coach John Madden won an outstanding 76% of his games coached with a 103-32-7 overall record, also going 9-7 in the playoffs. He won the NFL’s Coach of the Year award in 1969, although his most successful season came in 1976 when he led the Raiders to a 32-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI, his only Super Bowl championship.
It was this success as a coach that helped set him up for the most iconic part of his football career as he moved to the broadcasting booth in 1979. Madden proceeded to excel in this role for nearly three decades, making his voice on the microphone one of the most recognizable in football history for a long time.
Throughout this time, Madden also served as the inspiration for the ever-popular Madden video game series, which started in 1988 and hasn’t slowed down to this day. Although the broadcaster stopped calling games in 2008, his voice would live on for more than a decade as fans played the classic NFL video game and enjoyed his commentary.
John Madden made the absolute most out of his career in football, and his loss is already hitting fans hard. Our condolences go out to both the Madden family and the National Football League community during this difficult time.
Source: ESPN
