All I know about John Madden is that he has a video game, and he makes slick statements on why throw the ball short of the first down when you needed the first down to keep the drive going (you have to play the early Madden games to get that reference). So, I always wondered why did John Madden have a video game?
To answer the question we have to start at the beginning of John Madden's professional career. Few people know that John Madden was a great football player in high school and college. While in college, Madden won all conference honors as an offensive tackle. In 1958, John Madden was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 21st round (244 overall). During training camp, Madden had a knee injury and never gained a chance to play professional in the NFL. Unable to perform physically, Madden was useless to the NFL and his professional career as a player was over before it got started.
Despite being unable to be a worker in the field, John Madden had a plan that would help him continue his professional football career as a leader on the sidelines. Madden said, "I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles - a knee injury - and I couldn't play. While I was rehabbing, Norm Van Brocklin would be watching films and would explain what was happening. I ended up with a degree in teaching, and my love for football meshed with teaching."
Professional success was not instant for John Madden. In 1960, Madden became assistant coach for the Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. He was promoted to head in 1962. After spending 6 years coaching college, Madden got his football in the door of the NFL again.
In 1967, John Madden became the Linebackers coach for the Oakland Raiders. During that year the Raiders reached the Super Bowl. After John Rauch resigned from Raiders head coach spot to take the head coach position with the Buffalo Bills, Madden was named the head coach of the Raiders. In 1969, John Madden became the youngest head in the history of the Raiders at 32. In his first season, Madden lead the team to a 12-101 record.
As the Raider's head coach, John reached the AFC championship game 5 out 7. After losing to the legendary undefeated Dolphins of 1972 and being on the defeated side of the last minute "immaculate reception", Madden gained his first Super Bowl championship in 1976 against the Minnesota Vikings.
After winning the Super in 1976, the Raiders would lose the AFC championship in 1977 and fail to make the playoffs in 1978. After 10 years, John Madden decided to retire. Madden would retire as the most winning head coach in NFL history and youngest coach to gain 100 wins. Madden also never had a losing season as a head coach.
After retiring, John Madden spent his time from 1979 to 2008 as NFL analyst and commentator. Madden would later turn his analyst skills to new venture known as video games. In 1988, the first Madden video was created. When asked why did Madden lend his voice, personality, and name Madden said he views the video games as an educational tool for teaching and testing plays. in 2012, Madden stated "a way for people to learn the game and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level".
And there you have it. The reason there is a Madden game is b/c Madden was a fan of the sport that had great skills at developing talent and coaching that talent to the most victories in NFL history. In a way Madden is like video gamers b/c he never played the game professionally but he knows about players and tools to lead to success. May one day we will see a Madden player become a coach one day.
My take away from studying John Madden's career is that when one door closes, there is always hope another will open by using your knowledge to win and succeed.
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