Former Nationwide Soccer League coach and legendary broadcaster John Madden has handed away on the age of 85, the league confirmed Tuesday.
The NFL mentioned in a press release that Madden, a member of the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame for his teaching profession with the Oakland Raiders, died unexpectedly Tuesday morning.
“No person beloved soccer greater than Coach,” mentioned NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “He was soccer. He was an unimaginable sounding board to me and so many others.
“There’ll by no means be one other John Madden, and we’ll eternally be indebted to him for all he did to make soccer and the NFL what it’s right this moment.”
No reason for loss of life was given. The league mentioned memorial service data can be introduced when it’s accessible.
Madden gained fame in a decade-long stint because the coach of the renegade Oakland Raiders, making it to seven AFC title video games and successful the Tremendous Bowl following the 1976 season.
He compiled a 103-32-7 regular-season file, and his .759 successful proportion is one of the best amongst NFL coaches with greater than 100 video games.
However it was after his untimely retirement from teaching at age 42 — introduced on by a concern of flying — that Madden turned a family identify, entertaining hundreds of thousands by calling NFL video games for one more three many years. His common interjections of “Growth!” and “Doink!” alongside along with his capability to easily clarify the sport to audiences made him synonymous with the game.
Madden later lent his identify not solely to the massively profitable “Madden NFL Soccer” sequence of video video games, but in addition to eating places, {hardware} shops and beer. He additionally turned a best-selling creator with a number of books on soccer and his personal profession.
Most of all, he was the preeminent tv sports activities analyst for many of his three many years calling video games, successful an unprecedented 16 Emmy Awards for excellent sports activities analyst/persona, and overlaying 11 Tremendous Bowls for 4 networks from 1979-2009.
FILE – This Jan. 20, 2002, file photograph reveals Pat Summerall, left, and John Madden, proper, within the FOX broadcast sales space earlier than the NFC divisional playoff in St. Louis. The hiring of Summerall and Madden as the highest broadcast staff gave Fox instantaneous credibility, however the community additionally helped launch the community soccer careers of Joe Buck, Thom Brennaman, Kenny Albert and Kevin Harlan. (AP Photograph/Michael Conroy, File).
He began his broadcasting profession at CBS, partnering with Pat Summerall to turn out to be the community’s high asserting duo. Madden then helped give Fox credibility as a serious community when he moved there in 1994, and went on to name prime-time video games at ABC and NBC earlier than retiring following Pittsburgh’s thrilling 27-23 win over Arizona within the 2009 Tremendous Bowl.
When he lastly retired from the published sales space, leaving NBC’s “Sunday Night time Soccer,” colleagues universally praised Madden’s ardour for the game, his preparation, and his capability to elucidate an often-complicated sport in down-to-earth phrases.
For anybody who heard Madden exclaim “Growth!” whereas breaking down a play, his love of the sport was apparent.
“For me, TV is absolutely an extension of teaching,” Madden wrote in “Hey, Wait a Minute! (I Wrote a Ebook!).”
“My information of soccer has come from teaching. And on TV, all I’m attempting to do is move on a few of that information to viewers.”
Madden was raised in Daly Metropolis, California. He performed on each the offensive and defensive strains for Cal Poly in 1957-58 and earned his bachelor’s and grasp’s levels from the varsity.
Madden was chosen to the all-conference staff and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, however a knee damage ended his hopes of a professional taking part in profession. As an alternative, Madden received into teaching, first at Hancock Junior School after which as defensive coordinator at San Diego State.
FILE – On this Jan. 4, 1977, file photograph, Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, proper, talks with coach John Madden in Oakland, Calif. Madden referred to as the shaggy-haired Stabler, whose wild model on the sector and off helped earn him the nickname “The Snake,” the right Raider. The one factor lacking when Stabler is inducted into the Corridor of Fame on Aug. 6, 2016, can be Stabler himself. (AP Photograph/George Brich, File).
Al Davis introduced him to the Raiders as a linebackers coach in 1967, and Oakland went to the Tremendous Bowl in his first 12 months within the professionals. He changed John Rauch as head coach after the 1968 season at age 32, starting a exceptional 10-year run that climaxed with the staff’s 1976 Tremendous Bowl win.
Now based mostly in Las Vegas, the Raiders launched a press release Tuesday highlighting Madden’s function in shaping the franchise as its head coach. The staff’s web site was additionally altered to function Madden’s identify.
“Few people meant as a lot to the expansion and recognition {of professional} soccer as Coach Madden, whose impression on the sport each on and off the sector was immeasurable,” the staff mentioned.
Tributes shortly poured out on Tuesday for Madden from fellow NFL coaches, broadcasters and staff house owners.
“There isn’t a one who lived a extra lovely soccer life than John Madden,” mentioned Dallas Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones, who lengthy regarded Madden as an expensive buddy.
–With recordsdata from the Related Press
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