John Madden is a Hall of Fame American football coach and former player. He was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1976, and then for the rest of his career with the Dallas Cowboys.
John Madden was a football coach who has been retired for some time now. He used to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, but he hated calling games on the road. Read more in detail here: is john madden still alive.
The Dallas Cowboys had established themselves as America’s Team and the face of professional football by the early 1980s. While it worked out well for players like Roger Staubach and Tom Landry, Madden, John couldn’t claim the same.
Madden’s coaching days were gone at that time, and the Super Bowl 11 winner spent his Sundays in the CBS broadcast booth. The former AFL Coach of the Year hated calling Cowboys games as much as he loved traveling and studying football games.
Because of the hotels, John Madden detested announcing Dallas Cowboys games.
When John Madden had to go to Dallas Cowboys games, he wasn’t smiling | Craig Sjodin/ABC/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
Younger NFL fans may be shocked to learn about the league’s environment in the early 1980s. Consider that the New York Jets and the New York Mets shared Shea Stadium in a perfect combination of charming losers and tormented fanbases, and that the Seattle Seahawks were both AFC teams.
The Dallas Cowboys, though, were a national attraction, much as they are now. The team won two Super Bowls in the 1970s and was always in the playoffs until Jerry Jones took over as owner in 1989 due to poor drafting and obstinate management.
Everyone wanted a piece of the Cowboys, causing Madden issues. In a 1982 interview with Sports Illustrated, the popular broadcaster expressed his displeasure at having to jump through so many hoops to work a Cowboys game.
“One of the things I despise about playing one of their games is that they have the most lobbies in the league. In the foyer of a hotel where a team is staying, there will usually be 30 or 40 people wandering about. It’ll be closer to 500 when the Cowboys stay at a motel. You’re not even allowed to enter the dining room. You must order room service.”
John Madden
Given that Madden called NFL games until his retirement in April 2009, it’s fair to assume that the overcrowding didn’t deter him.
Over the years, Madden has called a number of noteworthy Cowboys games.
On this day in 1994, the Cowboys defeated the Packers 42-31 after scoring 36 points in the second half.
The Cowboys quarterback had a great game, throwing for 311 yards and two touchdowns.
It wasn’t Troy Aikman, either… #DallasCowboys #JasonGarrett pic.twitter.com/CrYeUszYB5
TROY HUGHES November 22, 2024 (@TommySledge)
Despite serving as a color commentator for the Dallas Cowboys for 30 years, Madden has never served as the color commentator for a Super Bowl. It’s up to you to decide if that’s bad timing or an indictment of the Cowboys.
He did, however, work on a number of notable games featuring America’s Team. In the 1990s, his job as part of Fox’s No. 1 broadcast crew enabled him to watch the Cowboys play every other year on Thanksgiving. On Nov. 26, 1998, Madden and Pat Summerall were on hand to witness Minnesota Vikings rookie receiver Randy Moss thrash the home team for 163 yards and three scores.
On Nov. 24, 1994, future Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, who was Dallas’ third-string quarterback at the time, defeated Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre 42-31.
In January 2007, Madden was the color commentator for a Wild Card game between the Cowboys and the Seahawks on NBC. With 1:19 remaining, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo notoriously bungled the hold on a game-winning 19-yard field goal, and Seattle held on for a 21-20 victory.
Madden’s travel schedule was not just tough because of the overcrowding in hotels.
On the Madden Cruiser,.@PFHOFPrez arrived at the Hall earlier today to present the Lombardi Trophy to the winner of Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Both the bus and the trophy will be on exhibit for museum visitors this week. pic.twitter.com/UPtYgNgFe6 #PFHOF18
August 2, 2018 — Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF)
Madden didn’t have to worry about production meetings and crowded hotels every week for the most of his broadcasting career. He had to make sure that his bus, the notorious Madden Cruiser, arrived on time for the game.
Madden, who was afraid of flying due to claustrophobia, started traveling across the nation on a Greyhound bus in 1987 and continued to do so until his last game in February 2009. In 2018, the original Madden Cruiser was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For Madden’s sake, we hope he was able to eat and even sleep comfortably on his bus while working Cowboys games.
So here we had a Super Bowl-winning coach who grumbled about hotels and didn’t enjoy traveling. Let this serve as a reminder that celebrities are just like the rest of us, even if they spend their Sundays in the booth rather than on the sofa.
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Troy Aikman Claims John Madden Was His Football ‘Therapist’
John Madden was a football player before he became a coach. He played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969-1971, and then moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1972. In his time with the Cowboys, he had some bad experiences with playing on the road. Reference: dallas cowboys 2024.
