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A childhood memory of John Madden just popped in my head. Will you indulge me for a moment while I share it? (1/13)
When I was a football-obsessed boy of maybe 10, my dad took me to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When we got there we learned that John Madden, then at CBS and easily the NFL's most popular broadcaster, was at the Hall of Fame filming something for TV. (2/13)
One generation of football fans knows Madden as a great coach for the Raiders, another knows him as football's best color commentator ever, and a third generation knows him for the video game that bears his name. I'm in that middle generation. (3/13)
Can I describe how popular Madden was? As a kid I didn't much care which NFL star endorsed Nike and which endorsed Reebok, but you better believe I knew Madden endorsed Miller Lite, Ace Hardware and "Boom! Tough Actin" Tinactin. (4/13)
NFL players legitimately cared more about making the All-Madden Team than the All-Pro Team. It was nice for the Associated Press panel of voters to recognize you as All-Pro, but if John Madden had given you the All-Madden seal of approval, you'd really made it. (5/13)
And, of course, there was the Madden Cruiser, the bus Madden lived in during the NFL season, the bus that would take him from Philadelphia for an Eagles game one Sunday to San Francisco for a 49ers game the next. Everyone knew about the bus. (6/13)
As soon as my dad and I found out Madden was at the Hall of Fame, seeing him became Priority 1. And once we figured out where he was filming, we discovered that's how everyone felt: A big crowd of people were standing around, craning their necks to get a look at Madden. (7/13)
After a minute, someone with Madden came over and told us he was very sorry he wouldn't be able to meet us because he had a busy schedule taping his TV segment. However, would we like to see the bus? (8/13)
Did we want to see the bus? This was like spotting Elvis somewhere and having Col. Tom Parker ask if we want to see Graceland. Of course we want to see the bus, but could this rich and famous celebrity really be willing to let a bunch of strangers into his home on wheels? (9/13)
He didn't mind at all, we were told, and so we got onboard the Madden Cruiser. It was really something. Two drivers upfront, and then Madden's living quarters, with a kitchen and bedroom and office. This was what traveling in luxury looked like to my 10-year-old eyes. (10/13)
If you're in the generation that knows Madden from the video game you'll scoff, but what really amazed us was he had a TV and VCR right there on the bus. He'd be on the way to San Francisco and watching all the 49ers' games to prepare. An amazing technological innovation. (11/13)
I don't remember which Hall of Famers' busts I saw that day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but I remember boarding the Madden Cruiser, and to me, that bus was a greater football artifact than all the Lombardi Trophies and game-worn jerseys in that museum. (12/13)
Years later, John Madden donated the original Madden Cruiser to the Hall of Fame, where it will be celebrated for its rightful place in football history. Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Madden. (13/13)
