In basketball, the impact of the 1992 Dream Team is felt in today's game as the league is filled with more international players -- read: stars -- than ever before.
So imagine what John Madden's impact on the NFL is. As a coach, he never had a losing season during his 10-year career with the Oakland Raiders, culminating with a win in Super Bowl XI. His coaching is typically the least known of his accomplishments (he has the best winning percentage, minimum 100 games) because he did it in an era where Chuck Noll and the Steelers and Don Shula and the Colts and Dolphins ran things in the AFC. Plus, it was prior to the NFL becoming the sports leader it is today.
As a broadcaster, he became the respected, yet relatable voice that brought the nuances of the game to the viewer. You understood why offensive linemen were so important. He ... along with the telestrator ... diagramed plays so you understood why it worked. He did so with the zest of college basketball's Dick Vitale with the knowledge of the NBA's Hubie Brown while delivering it in a way people understand it. He changed the way fans watched the game and broadcasters called it.
And then there's Madden Football from EA Sports. To some people, it may not seem as if a video game would be the reason the NFL blew up the way it has ... but it did. Now, fans can play the game and understand rules, play calling, roster construction, play diagrams and all those nuances that makes watching the actual game more engaging. I mean, and entire generation of fans know what exotic defenses are just because Madden demanded they get placed in the game. No, Madden didn't create or build the game, but his knowledge put that title on a pedestal that every other game strove to achieve.
It wasn't just that the game was popular, but it was informative and (for the most part) added more and more reality to it each year.
I tend to add my age in my writing because I think it's important to note where my actual experience lies with certain subjects. I'm 46, so I didn't watch Madden as a head coach but he was the announcer on CBS as I was growing up. When he went to FOX with the NFC package in the early 1990s, it was a huge thing for the network. At that time, FOX was an upstart network when that just never happened. Their shows were mostly ... well ... different than what was typically on network TV. Married ... With Children, The Simpsons, Tracy Ulman Show, Beverly Hills 90210, etc. The joke was that Bart Simpson would be calling games for FOX. But when Madden signed on, pretty much all of CBS' NFL talent went with him and gave the network credibility. That was a major power shift in broadcasting that he helped spearhead.
I was also a teenager when Madden games came out, so I remember the old simple graphics to the extremely challenging game it is today. And, yes, my understanding of the Xs and Os of football emerged as I played the game (and still play the game).
John Madden will never happen again in sports. There may be people who can be as great or greater at one aspect of his life, but not be all the things Madden was all at once.
Rest well, sir. And thank you.
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