John Madden, who was born in Austin, Minnesota, was an American football player, coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL).

He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978. Madden holds the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who coached 100 games. After retiring from coaching, Madden was a color commentator for NFL telecasts from 1979 to 2008, which earned him 16 Sports Emmy Awards.

He appeared on all four major American television networks, providing commentary for games broadcast by CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC.

Born on April 10, 1936, Madden died of undisclosed causes at his home in Pleasanton, California, on December 28, 2021, at the age of 85.

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At the time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement about his death, announcing that Madden “was football”, adding, “there will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”

Madden got married to Virginia Fields on December 26, 1959. They have two sons Joseph and Michael. Joe played football at Brown University and Mike attended Harvard University, where he started as receiver on the football team.

Madden was a football star in high school. He played one season at the College of San Mateo in 1954, before he was given a football scholarship to the University of Oregon.

He attended the College of San Mateo in 1955, then Grays Harbor College, playing in the fall of 1956, before transferring to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he played both offense and defense for the Mustangs in 1957 and 1958 while earning a Bachelor of Science in education in 1959 and then a Master of Arts in education in 1961.

Madden also was selected by United Press International for Little All-Coast Second Team accolades following his junior season of 1957.

During the 1957 season, he caught a pass from future fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, then-teammate and Cal Poly quarterback, Bobby Beathard.

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Madden was drafted in the 21st round (244th overall) by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 (months before beginning his senior season at Cal Poly).

In 1959, he played in the All-American Bowl in Tucson, Arizona, and was later praised by Lou Pavlovich of The Sporting News for his play in the showcase.

After suffering injury on his knee, Madden ended his playing career.