Boom — John Madden Dies at 85

For my generation, he and Pat Summerall will forever be the voices of football. Madden made a complex game simple in his commentary, but his everyman demeanor belied the fact that he really understood the game. As a commentator he never lost sight of the fact that football is a game, and games are supposed to be fun.

Update: Nice 5-minute tribute video from the NFL. From that video, here were Madden’s only rules while coaching the Raiders in the 1970s:

  1. Be on time.
  2. Listen.
  3. Play like hell when I tell you to.

Pretty good set of rules — not just for a football team, but life.

★ Tuesday, 28 December 2021