John Madden ( football ) John Earl Madden ( born April 10 , 1936 ) is a former American professional football player in the National Football League , a former Super Bowl - winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and later the NFL , and a former color commentator for NFL telecasts . In 2006 , he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his coaching career . He is also widely known for the long - running " Madden NFL " video game series he has endorsed and fronted since 1988 . Madden broadcast with Pat Summerall in the 1980s and 1990s , on CBS and later Fox . He was also the last color commentator for ABC ' s " Monday Night Football " before it moved to ESPN in 2006 . His last regular role was as a commentator for " NBC Sunday Night Football " . Madden has also written several books and has served as a commercial pitchman for various products and retailers . He retired from broadcasting on April 16 , 2009 in order to spend more time with his family . Early life . John Madden was born in Austin , Minnesota , to Earl Russell Madden and Mary Margaret ( Flaherty ) Madden . His father , an auto mechanic , moved the Madden family to Daly City , California , a suburb of San Francisco , when he was young . He attended middle school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help , and then Jefferson High School , graduating in 1954 . John Madden married Virginia Fields on December 26 , 1959 . They live in Pleasanton , California , and have two sons , Joseph and Michael . Joe played football at Brown University and Mike attended Harvard University where he started at receiver on the football team . Playing career . A football standout in high school , he then played college football at Oregon and the College of San Mateo before transferring to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo , where he played both offense and defense for the Mustangs while earning a BS in Education in 1959 and an MA in Education in 1961 . He won all - conference honors at offensive tackle , and was a catcher on Cal Poly ' s baseball team . Madden was drafted in the 21st round ( 244th overall ) by the NFL ' s Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 , but a knee injury in training camp a year later ended his playing career before he ever got a chance to play professionally . Coaching career . College coaching . In 1960 , he became an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria , and was promoted to head coach in 1962 . Following the 1963 season , he was hired as a defensive assistant at San Diego State , where he served through 1966 . During that final campaign , the Aztecs were ranked among the top small college teams in the country . While at SDSU , Madden coached under Don Coryell , whom Madden credits as being an influence on his coaching and who he feels will one day be included in the Hall of Fame . Professional coaching . Building on that success , Madden was hired by Al Davis as linebackers coach for the AFL ' s Oakland Raiders in 1967 , putting him in the Sid Gillman coaching tree . He helped the team reach Super Bowl II that season . A year later , after Raiders head coach John Rauch resigned to take the same position with the Buffalo Bills , Madden was named the Raiders ' head coach on February 4 , 1969 , becoming professional football ' s youngest head coach at the age of 32 . According to current Raider ' s coach Dennis Allen , John Madden was arguably the best Oakland Raiders coach in the history of the team . Madden ' s Raiders reached and lost five AFC title games in seven years , which left the Raiders with the same image that the Dallas Cowboys had previously had — as a team unable to " win the big one . " Despite a 12 – 1 – 1 mark in 1969 , the team lost 17 – 7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final American Football League championship game . Three years later , what appeared to be a last - minute victory over the Steelers instead became a part of football lore when Franco Harris ' " Immaculate Reception " gave Pittsburgh a 13 – 7 win . Then , in 1974 , after defeating the two - time , and defending Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins in dramatic fashion , the Raiders lost again to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game . In 1976 , the Raiders went 13 – 1 in the regular season , and escaped the first round of the playoffs with a dramatic and controversial victory over the New England Patriots . In the second round of the playoffs they defeated the Steelers for the AFC Championship . On January 9 , 1977 , Madden ' s Raiders finally captured their first Super Bowl with a convincing 32 – 14 win over the Minnesota Vikings . The Raiders lost the AFC Championship Game in 1977 to the Denver Broncos with Madden battling an ulcer for most of the season . He retired after the 1978 season when the Raiders failed to make the playoffs . Madden retired as a Super Bowl winning head coach and was the youngest coach ever to reach 100 career regular season victories , a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42 . He is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history . Madden ' s overall winning percentage including playoff games ranks second in league history . He won a Super Bowl and never had a losing season as a head coach . Madden has a winning record as a head coach against other future Hall of Fame head coaches . Television . From 1979 through 2008 , Madden worked as a color commentator / analyst on NFL games for all four major American television networks . CBS Sports . After working lower profile contests for CBS during his first three years , he was elevated to the network ' s top football broadcasting duo with Pat Summerall in 1981 , replacing Tom Brookshier . The team of Madden and Summerall would go on to call eight Super Bowls together ( five for CBS and three for Fox ) . On occasions in which Summerall was unavailable ( during the CBS years , Summerall was normally scheduled to commentate on U . S . Open tennis tournament during the early weeks of the NFL season ) , Madden would team with the likes of Vin Scully and subsequently , Verne Lundquist . On their final CBS telecast together ( the on January 23 , 1994 ) , Madden told Summerall that while CBS may no longer have the NFL ( for the time being , as CBS would eventually regain NFL rights in 1998 by outbidding NBC for the rights to AFC telecasts ) , at least they have the memories . On ABC ' s final " Monday Night Football " telecast in 2005 , Madden used a similar choice of words . Fox Sports / ABC Sports . When the Fox Network gained the rights in 1994 , the pair shifted to that network with Madden reportedly making US $ 8 million per year . Following his appearance during Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002 , Madden left Fox to become a commentator on ABC ' s " Monday Night Football " , working with longtime play - by - play announcer Al Michaels . NBC Sports . In 2005 , Dick Ebersol , president of NBC Sports , announced that Madden would do color commentary for NBC ' s Sunday night NFL games beginning with the 2006 season , making him the first sportscaster to have worked for all of the " Big Four " U . S . broadcast television networks . Madden also reached the milestone of calling the Super Bowl on all of the " Big Four " broadcast networks when he appeared on the 2009 broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII . On October 13 , 2008 , NBC announced that Madden would not be traveling to the October 19 " Sunday Night Football " Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Seattle Seahawks game in Tampa , Florida , marking the end of Madden ' s 476 - weekend streak of consecutive broadcast appearances . Madden , who travels by bus because of a fear of flying ( see below ) decided to take the week off because he had traveled from Jacksonville to San Diego , and would have had to go back to Florida before returning to his Northern California home . Madden was replaced by " Football Night in America " studio analyst Cris Collinsworth for the game , and returned for the following telecast on November 2 , 2008 in Indianapolis ( until 2011 ; the NFL did not schedule Sunday night games for one week in October , as not to overlap with the World Series taking place roughly around the same time ) . Retirement . On April 16 , 2009 , Madden officially announced his retirement as an NFL broadcaster after 30 years saying " It ' s time . " Cris Collinsworth was announced as his replacement . Style . Madden ' s lively and flamboyant delivery has won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Award s for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst . His announcing style is punctuated with interjections such as " Boom ! " , " Whap ! " , " Bang ! " and " Doink ! " ' , and his use of the telestrator , a device which allows him to superimpose his light - penned diagrams of football plays over video footage . Madden ' s use of the telestrator helped to popularize the technology , which has become a staple of television coverage of all sports . Thanksgiving . Madden was also known for working the annual Thanksgiving Day games for CBS and later Fox . He would award a turkey or turducken to players of the winning team . He would also award a turkey drumstick to players of the winning team during the Thanksgiving Day game , often bringing out a " nuclear turkey " with as many as eight drumsticks on it for the occasion . The drumsticks served as an odd take on the " player of the game " award . Madden stopped announcing the Thanksgiving Day games after he moved to ABC in 2002 , but the tradition continued . Fox , CBS , and the NFL Network present the Galloping Gobbler , the All - Iron Award , and the Pudding Pie Award , respectively , to the Game MVP . All - Madden . In 1984 , Madden took the advice of NFL coach John Robinson – a friend of Madden ' s since elementary school – and created the " All - Madden " team , a group of players whom Madden thought represented football and played the game the way he thought it should be played . Madden continued to pick the All - Madden team through the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC and " Monday Night Football " . Madden added his " Haul of Fame " for his favorite players , he created a special 10th Anniversary All - Madden team in 1994 , an All - Madden Super Bowl Team in 1997 and an All - Time All - Madden team in 2000 . " All Madden " was also the title of Madden ' s third best - selling book ( after " Hey , Wait A Minute I Wrote a Book " and " One Knee Equals Two Feet " ) . Madden explained , " What does it mean to be ' All - Madden ' ? It ' s a whole range of things . For defensive linemen and linebackers , it ' s about Jack Youngblood playing with a busted leg , Lawrence Taylor wreaking havoc on the offense and Reggie White making the other guy wish he put a little more in the collection plate at church . It ' s about a guy who ' s got a dirty uniform , mud on his face and grass in the ear hole of his helmet . " ABC Sports stated , " the All - Madden Team has become synonymous with greatness . " Other NFL greats who have been on various All - Madden teams are Howie Long , Dan Hampton , Ronnie Lott , Richard Dent , Jackie Slater , Andre Tippett , Walter Payton , Mark Bavaro and Bruce Smith among many others . Fear of flying . Madden ' s fear of flight is well known . Two different theories have developed as to the cause . One theory relates to the October 29 , 1960 Cal Poly football team plane crash that claimed the lives of sixteen players , the team ’ s student manager , and a football booster . Having graduated from Cal Poly only two years prior , Madden lost many friends in the accident . However , it is known that Madden flew up until 1979 , when he had a panic attack on a flight originating in Tampa . Madden , however , stated once in an interview that his fears were not about turbulence , flying , or heights , but primarily claustrophobia . He also once noted that when he did fly , traveling all over the United States , it did not allow him to see anything . During his " Saturday Night Live " hosting appearance in the early 1980s , a short film aired depicting Madden making the journey to New York to host SNL by train . In the mid - 1980s Madden was a frequent rider on Amtrak ' s " Lake Shore Limited " . However , beginning in 1987 , he has traveled around the country in a customized coach - bus , which he has dubbed the " Madden Cruiser " . The Madden Cruiser shells are manufactured by Motor Coach Industries . The coach sponsors over the years have included Walker Advantage Muffler and Outback Steakhouse . The most recent coach , Madden ' s sixth , was built in 2005 . Because of this , Madden has never done commentary during a Pro Bowl , which was held in Hawaii until 2010 . Likewise , Madden has never called any pre - season game held outside of North America , even if his play - by - play partner was on the telecast . Madden found an unexpected use for his bus in New York after the September 11 , 2001 attacks , when he provided transportation for former ice skating champion Peggy Fleming , whose flight home to Los Gatos , California had been grounded . In contrast to Madden ' s own fear of flying , his wife Virginia holds a private pilot license . Honors . The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored Madden with its Pete Rozelle Radio - Television Award in 2002 . In August 2005 the Hall ' s Veterans ' Committee selected Madden and Rayfield Wright as candidates for entry into the Hall in 2006 . Madden was inducted into the Hall of Fame on August 5 , 2006 . Madden was placed as number two on David J . Halberstam ' s list of Top 50 All Time Network Television Sports Announcers by Yahoo ! Sports . On August 25 , 2009 , Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced that Madden would be one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum ' s yearlong exhibit . The induction ceremony was on December 1 , 2009 in Sacramento , California . Radio . Madden does a 6 – 9 minute on - air chat on KCBS radio in San Francisco with the sports and news anchors every weekday morning at 8 : 15 am Pacific Time , with recorded repeats throughout the day . Podcasts are available at http : / / sanfrancisco . cbslocal . com / tag / john - madden / and on iTunes . Madden has also aired sports commentaries in syndication on the Westwood One radio network in the United States . Advertising . In recent years he has appeared in a variety of radio and television commercials including Ace Hardware , Outback Steakhouse ( the current corporate sponsor of the " Maddencruiser " – see below ) , Verizon Wireless , Rent - A - Center , Miller Lite , Sirius Satellite Radio and Tinactin . In particular , the Miller beer advertisements cemented Madden ' s image in the public eye as a bumbling but lovable personality . He had a brief movie role playing himself in the 1994 youth football film " Little Giants " and in the 2000 film " The Replacements " . Madden appeared in a 1999 episode of The Simpsons " Sunday , Cruddy Sunday " . Madden also hosted an episode of NBC ' s " Saturday Night Live " in 1982 with musical guest Jennifer Holliday . As well , Madden was featured in the Irish band U2 ' s music video for the song " Stuck in a Moment You Can ' t Get Out Of " . In the video , Madden is commenting on a fake football game featuring Paul Hewson as the kicker who misses a short kick to win the game . He has also recorded radio and television public service announcement s for a number of causes , including Vascular Cures ( formerly the Pacific Vascular Research Foundation ) in Redwood City , CA ( based on the health experiences of his wife , Virginia Madden ) . To minimize travel to studios , Madden built Goal Line Productions in Pleasanton , Calif . , a facility that is now managed by his son , Joe . The facility features a sound stage , one of the largest in Northern California . " Madden NFL " video games . In addition to his real - world exploits , Madden lends his voice , personality and name to the " Madden NFL " series of football video games , which has been around since 1988 , published by Electronic Arts . The games , the most recent being " Madden NFL 12 " , have consistently been a best seller so much so that they have even spawned TV shows where people compete playing the video games . Despite Madden ' s retirement as a broadcaster in 2009 , he still continues to lend his name , as well as provide creative input , for the game .