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NBC Football Broadcaster John Madden Retires
Famed NFL broadcaster John Madden retires at age 73, says 'it's time'
By RACHEL COHEN AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK April 16, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press
After more than 40 years in football, game analyst John Madden of "Sunday Night Football" has decided it's time to retire.
(Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
John Madden is retiring from football announcing, where his enthusiastic, down-to-earth style made him one of sports' most popular broadcasters for three decades. The Hall of Fame coach spent the last three seasons on NBC's "Sunday Night Football." His final telecast was the Super Bowl in February.
"You know at some point you have to do this — I got to that point," Madden said on his Bay Area radio show Thursday. "The thing that made it hard is not because I'm second guessing, `is it the right decision?' But I enjoyed it so damn much.
"I enjoyed the game and the players and the coaches and the film and the travel and everything."
Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden, moving over from the network's studio show, NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol said. Collinsworth filled in when Madden took a game off last October.
Ebersol called Madden "absolutely the best sports broadcaster who ever lived."
Madden said his health is fine, but at the age of 73, he wanted to spend more time with his family. His 50th wedding anniversary is this fall, and his five grandchildren are old enough to notice when he's gone.
"If you hated part of it or if something was wrong, it'd be easy," Madden said.
Madden's blue-collar style and love for in-the-trenches football endeared him to fans. His "Madden NFL Football" is the top-selling sports video game of all time.
Madden is reluctant to fly and often traveled to games in a specially equipped bus.
Longtime broadcast partner Al Michaels said Madden will have a unique place in pro football history.
"No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John," Michaels said in a statement. "There's never been anyone like him and he's been the gold standard for analysts for almost three decades."
Madden began his pro football career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was named head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League.
Still, he noted this will be his first season away from the sport since he was a freshman in high school.
Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He began his pro career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was made head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League.
Madden led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory and retired in 1979. He joined CBS later that year.
He worked at CBS until 1994 when the network lost rights to broadcast NFL games, leading him to switch to Fox. He left Fox in 2002 to become the lead analyst for ABC's "Monday Night Football" and joined NBC in 2006 when that network inaugurated a prime-time Sunday game.
Madden won 16 Emmy Awards and became one of the most recognizable voices in television, mixing high-volume enthusiasm with serious analysis on the telestrator.
"He was so consistently entertaining — that guy you really wanted to have on the couch with you, but larger than life," Ebersol said. "I think people stayed with a rout or a bad game that Madden might have to broadcast in the second half (more) than they ever would have stayed with anybody else."
For the last several years, Madden said, he waited until two months after the season to determine whether to continue, not wanting to rush into a decision.
"The last game I did was the Super Bowl, which was pretty good," Madden said. "But, again, that wasn't planned. I didn't say, 'I want to go out on a high note.'"
He surprised Ebersol when he told him last week he was retiring. Ebersol flew to California on Wednesday morning and spent 11 hours with Madden, trying to persuade him to change his mind. Ebersol even offered to allow Madden to call games only in September and November and to take October and December off.
His longtime agent, Sandy Montag, said Madden won't change his mind now that his retirement is official. Madden didn't want a dramatic farewell — he didn't even appear on a conference call Thursday with Ebersol and Montag.
"It wouldn't have been me to say the week of the Super Bowl, 'This is my last game,'" Madden said during his brief radio appearance.
FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2006 file photo, former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden gestures toward his... 
FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2006 file photo, former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden gestures toward his bust during his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Madden, 73, the burly former head coach who worked as a broadcast analyst for all four major networks, is calling it quits. Madden worked for the past three seasons on NBC's Sunday night NFL game. His last telecast was the Super Bowl between Arizona and Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, file)
(AP)
Summerall said he knew Madden would be something special the first time they worked together.
"He didn't talk down to people," Summerall said. "He talked as if he was sitting next to you and explaining things to you."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/WireStory?id=7352177&page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/WireStory?id=7352177&page=1
Famed NFL broadcaster John Madden retires at age 73, says 'it's time'
By RACHEL COHEN AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK April 16, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press
(Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
John Madden is retiring from football announcing, where his enthusiastic, down-to-earth style made him one of sports' most popular broadcasters for three decades. The Hall of Fame coach spent the last three seasons on NBC's "Sunday Night Football." His final telecast was the Super Bowl in February.
"You know at some point you have to do this — I got to that point," Madden said on his Bay Area radio show Thursday. "The thing that made it hard is not because I'm second guessing, `is it the right decision?' But I enjoyed it so damn much.
"I enjoyed the game and the players and the coaches and the film and the travel and everything."
Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden, moving over from the network's studio show, NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol said. Collinsworth filled in when Madden took a game off last October.
Ebersol called Madden "absolutely the best sports broadcaster who ever lived."
Madden said his health is fine, but at the age of 73, he wanted to spend more time with his family. His 50th wedding anniversary is this fall, and his five grandchildren are old enough to notice when he's gone.
"If you hated part of it or if something was wrong, it'd be easy," Madden said.
Madden's blue-collar style and love for in-the-trenches football endeared him to fans. His "Madden NFL Football" is the top-selling sports video game of all time.
Madden is reluctant to fly and often traveled to games in a specially equipped bus.
Longtime broadcast partner Al Michaels said Madden will have a unique place in pro football history.
"No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John," Michaels said in a statement. "There's never been anyone like him and he's been the gold standard for analysts for almost three decades."
Madden began his pro football career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was named head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League.
Still, he noted this will be his first season away from the sport since he was a freshman in high school.
Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He began his pro career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was made head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League.
Madden led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory and retired in 1979. He joined CBS later that year.
He worked at CBS until 1994 when the network lost rights to broadcast NFL games, leading him to switch to Fox. He left Fox in 2002 to become the lead analyst for ABC's "Monday Night Football" and joined NBC in 2006 when that network inaugurated a prime-time Sunday game.
Madden won 16 Emmy Awards and became one of the most recognizable voices in television, mixing high-volume enthusiasm with serious analysis on the telestrator.
"He was so consistently entertaining — that guy you really wanted to have on the couch with you, but larger than life," Ebersol said. "I think people stayed with a rout or a bad game that Madden might have to broadcast in the second half (more) than they ever would have stayed with anybody else."
For the last several years, Madden said, he waited until two months after the season to determine whether to continue, not wanting to rush into a decision.
"The last game I did was the Super Bowl, which was pretty good," Madden said. "But, again, that wasn't planned. I didn't say, 'I want to go out on a high note.'"
He surprised Ebersol when he told him last week he was retiring. Ebersol flew to California on Wednesday morning and spent 11 hours with Madden, trying to persuade him to change his mind. Ebersol even offered to allow Madden to call games only in September and November and to take October and December off.
His longtime agent, Sandy Montag, said Madden won't change his mind now that his retirement is official. Madden didn't want a dramatic farewell — he didn't even appear on a conference call Thursday with Ebersol and Montag.
"It wouldn't have been me to say the week of the Super Bowl, 'This is my last game,'" Madden said during his brief radio appearance.
FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2006 file photo, former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden gestures toward his bust during his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Madden, 73, the burly former head coach who worked as a broadcast analyst for all four major networks, is calling it quits. Madden worked for the past three seasons on NBC's Sunday night NFL game. His last telecast was the Super Bowl between Arizona and Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, file)
(AP)
Summerall said he knew Madden would be something special the first time they worked together.
"He didn't talk down to people," Summerall said. "He talked as if he was sitting next to you and explaining things to you."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/WireStory?id=7352177&page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/WireStory?id=7352177&page=1
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