John Madden, NFL icon as coach, broadcaster and video game star, dies at age 85
LOS ANGELES — John Madden, answered to three distinct names, each coming a different generation of NFL fans.
He was “Coach” to the people who followed his Super Bowl-winning Oakland Raiders, “John” to the millions who remembered him best as a broadcaster and “Madden” to the legions of video-game devotees.
“I can always tell how somebody knows me,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 2005. “Some guys will call me Coach, and then some people will just call me Madden. 'Hey, Madden! Hey! Hey!’ That’s the game. They play Madden, and then they see Madden. 'Hey, there’s Madden!’ ”
Madden, who reached the top of his profession in three different fields, died unexpectedly Tuesday. He was 85.
“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, referencing Madden’s wife and their sons. “We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband,
