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On Christmas Day, John Madden gathered his family and friends around his TV. He wanted to watch the documentary with the people he loved the most, so he decided to watch it on Fox.
Many of the people in the room with him, including his wife, Virginia, and sons, Joe and Mike, had made tremendous sacrifice over the decades as Madden rose to stardom, first as a Hall of Fame coach, then as a broadcast, then as an esports pioneer. He acknowledged that he missed more of his boys' lives than he wanted. He would tell friends that Virginia had raised the kids.
This documentary was a perfect coda to the family story, as they had invested so much in Madden's success. Madden considered his career to be theirs, and they were proud of him.
His wife and sons, their spouses and his grandsons watched the film as he sank into his big chair in the Madden TV room. Most of them had no idea that it was the last time they would share with their beloved father.
What a time it was. The story of Madden's amazing life begins with an injured lineman who washed out as a pro football player, became a coaching legend, stunned the world by walking away 10 years later, and became the biggest broadcast and video game lumin. The doc is on Fox at 8 pm.
Many in the room thought it was a meta moment. Madden sat in a chair at his home studio and watched video of his family and football players rave about him in a July shoot for the doc. Madden's loved ones watched him as he watched the finished product. He had a big smile on his face. The smile was bigger in the room.
Madden asked everyone in the room what they thought after the film ended.
The first person said they loved it.
The second person said they loved it.
Around the room. The vote was unanimous. Madden's turn came after everyone spoke. Everyone waited. Madden's booming voice was affected by his hearing being bad. He worked hard to broadcast his words.
Madden said he loved it too. We have to share it together.
He and Virginia celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary the next day.
He was gone the next day. John Madden died at the age of 85.
There were a lot of smiles after the Christmas Day screening, but family and friends spent the next 48 hours crying. John Madden had picked the perfect moment to say goodbye many times.
Madden, who won a Super Bowl title in his 10 seasons as the Raiders' coach, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006
John Madden wanted to be known as a coach. He insisted that the voters of the Hall of Fame didn't look at the other stuff, as he sometimes said to refer to his second, third and fourth lives as a product pitchman and innovator. He always said he was a coach and a teacher.
He was named Raiders coach in 1969 at the age of 32. Madden was an assistant on the Raiders staff under John Rauch and he was respected by the team. Madden's ability to weaponize his physical stature was one thing that served him well in the locker room and later in the booth. He was a big man with a big voice. He was a hard-driving but friendly personality who laughed more than he yelled. He could grab his team by the face mask when he had to, the same way he could later tap into the ebb and flow of games as a broadcasters.
Phil Villapiano had quotes in the newspaper when Madden was the Raiders coach. Villapiano told the paper, "Who cares about the 49ers?" as the Raiders played San Francisco in a preseason game. I'm worried about organizing the air hockey tournament.
Madden exploded at Villapiano in front of the entire team. Do you think you are? This is football. I don't want to hear that again.
Madden later told Villapiano that he had been mad about the air hockey quotes and the spotty team work ethic that August. He had been looking for the right time to assert himself as a young coach, and Villapiano had printed it out for him on the front page of the sports section.
Villapiano says that they all loved John. When he had to raise his voice, it had tremendous power. He always knew when to use that.
The end of the air hockey story is a good example of Madden's ability to read rooms. The next year, the Raiders were not doing well in the preseason and had no fun. Madden called Villapiano into his office and asked about the air hockey tournament. The team needs it.
The Raiders had 12 future Hall of Famers roaming the hallways, and Madden was a part of that. Madden could coach a veteran locker room full of hard-nosed Raiders and deal with owner Al Davis.
The squeeze from both sides eventually caught up with Madden, as seen in a painful scene from the documentary in which Madden and Davis announced that he was retiring at age 42. He'd gotten the Raiders over the hump in 1976, finally winning a Super Bowl after being a perennial playoff flameout. The players worried about him constantly as the seasons went on, with his big frame ballooning every November and December from the pressure of Just Win, Baby. He would be up to 350 pounds by the end of the year, and he would have to eat Maalox for his stomach. We loved him but we were worried about him.
Madden was burning out by 1979. He had become the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl at the time, and had a 103-32-7 record, still the best winning percentage of any coach who won 100 games. "He might have been more proud of that number than anything else he did in life," says Bob Stenner. John was one of the most successful coaches in the history of the NFL and he got out at the perfect time.
Virginia pulled the boys out of school to watch the news conference where he announced his retirement. Madden cried twice before and after he told the world he would never coach again. Madden says he gave everything he had. I don't have anything anymore. It's hard to say you're retiring after 10 years. I'm not leaving. I'm not giving up. I'm retiring from football coaching, and I'm never going to coach again.
He never did.
Al Messerschmidt is a photographer.
Madden loved broadcasting when he got a chance a few years later. He had a natural gift at teaching and explaining football to a wide audience, and a huge part of it was his mastery of timing: He had an innate ability to navigate the time between plays, without stepping on his play-by-play partner.
"New broadcasters usually try to say too much," says the man who produced eight Super Bowls and won 11 Emmys. They swing the other way when you work with them. John had a way of saying just the right things in just the right amount of time.
Madden was the ideal quarterback to give the ball to. Summerall's calm, concise voice would say something like, "What do you know about pulling guards, John?" and he'd clear out of the lane to let Madden cook. They did a 20-second dance, back and forth, every play, every Sunday for 22 years, in a way that might never be duplicated.
Madden became the king of the commercial, promoting everything from Tinactin to Miller lite, as he became so popular. He said no to more ads than he said yes to. It probably doesn't seem like it, but John was careful about his endorsements. He did a lot of ads, but if you watch, you'll see they were all good. He wouldn't just put his name on something.
The first Madden Football game was released in 1988. Madden was the front man of the video game when it was first conceived, but it wasn't until later in the decade that the Madden Cruiser was born. Madden agreed with the idea that football could be taught through a video game.
Madden was told that he wasn't sure if the technology was ready for a full 11-on-11 game when they were inching toward a deal. He suggested dropping some linemen so that they could squeeze 14 players on the screen.
"That's not football," Madden said.
"Unfortunately, the technology isn't there yet to get 22 guys on the screen at the same time," he said.
Madden said that that's not real football.
It will take a long time to get all 22 guys on a screen.
Madden said it would take years.
And it did. The first Madden Football game was released in June of 1988 and has become the most important sports game of all time. The franchise has sold more than 130 million copies, with more than $4 billion in sales. "I think he was the right guy at the right time with Madden Football, right?" "Ziontz says."
Madden solidified his role as the most prized personality in the league as the game went on. He left CBS for Fox in 1994 and helped legitimize the network, negotiating directly with Murdoch to pull off a shocking new home for him and the football team.
He decided to retire from broadcasting after the 2009 season. Madden was still the best in the business, but he was ready to go. He had a memorable walk-off night at the Super Bowl. Madden was at the back of the end zone to call the game after Santonio Holmes made a brilliant catch. "Couldn't have written that better," he says.
Madden received many requests over the years. The Athletic's Richard Deitsch reported about how in the year of 2014, Madden, Al Michaels, and Fred Gaudelli went to dinner in San Francisco. They had a big idea about Madden coming out of retirement and playing one final game. They offered to make sure it was a game near Madden's home.
Madden swatted away the pitch, which was barely in the air. The answer was no. "He'd done everything you could ever do in broadcasting." He didn't need money or fame or anything like that, and he didn't have a big enough ego to need one more game. John was content with the fact that he had made his mark.
Madden sent a text to Zyontz on the day after Christmas. Madden saw something when he met Zyontz, who was a security guard at CBS. He put him on the Madden crew. He is one of the most influential football producers in TV, with eight Super Bowls under his belt.
He became a trusted aide of Madden's. Madden was in the middle of a sentence when he said he had to go to the bathroom. Madden handed the phone to a friend of Virginia's who was over at the house.
June hit it off with Zyontz and they decided to meet in person. They got married at Madden's house a few years later. The best man was John Madden. "Perfect timing," he says.
When he found out Madden had died, he sat down and told June. She started to cry, and Zyontz moved from stunned to sad. Madden's family feels like his last days were a beautiful grand goodbye, where they were able to share it with him in a way very few, because they landed in the same spot.
He passed away after celebrating his wedding anniversary with the love of his life. "It's sort of divine, don't you think?" "Ziontz says." It was one of the most beautiful moments of John's life. He said how much he cared about them, and then he died.
The man is talking while he searches. He wants to find his last text. He says he has it somewhere. I forget exactly what we said to each other, but I think it's something I'll save for the rest of my life.
After a few seconds, Zyontz lets out a soft, "Oh."
He was silent for a few seconds and then he said, "This is really hitting me."
Madden sent a Merry Christmas message to Zyontz right after the documentary aired. Thanks for everything you did to make this happen.
John, wish it could have been longer. Happy anniversary," Zyontz said.
Madden said he loved seeing so many people rave about him and his career. He liked the section where Virginia and the boys talked about how proud they were of John and how much the sacrifice was worth.
After pausing for a moment, he shared the final text he had from his friend, John Madden. He takes a deep breath and reads it.
Madden typed, "Thanks." Everyone agrees that it should have been longer.
