John Madden Passes

The football world has lost an icon whose legacy will live on forever. Former Raiders coach and legendary broadcaster John Madden passed away in his sleep last week. He led the Oakland Raiders to a victory in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and set up two more titles following his departure from coaching. For ten years, he coached the Raiders to 103 wins while only losing 32 times, and they tied seven times. Just to see how amazing those statistics are, Madden won a little over 75% of the games he coached, which is nearly impossible to do in truly any era of the National Football League.

Of course, many know his legacy in the form of the Madden video game franchise, which has become the sole gaming franchise for the NFL. The game first came out in 1988, and it has been released annually since then. For many of the early editions of the game, Madden himself appeared on the cover, but today, it is top players like Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady, Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and former Giants and current Rams receiver Odell Beckham Junior. This franchise has sold millions of copies and is now known as one of the most popular video game franchises in the world.

On the Sunday following his passing, many teams across the league honored Madden before their kickoff. For example, at SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams, the Chargers were set to host the Denver Broncos for a game that kicked off at one. And about ten minutes before game time, the loud, rowdy Chargers and Broncos fans stood silent to honor the late great who coached both of these team’s rivals, the now Las Vegas Raiders. Madden marked the second tragedy in the football world in about a week, as former Broncos coach Dan Reeves also passed away a few days before Madden. Honoring his legacy, the Raiders faced the Chargers in the final game of the regular season, as they kicked a game winning field goal to send the Raiders to only their second playoff appearance since 2002.