Getty Hall of Fame Coach John Madden during opening cermonies as the Oakland Raiders defeated the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 22 to 9 at McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, California, October 22, 2006. (Photo by Robert B. Stanton/NFLPhotoLibrary)
There are countless stories that capture, in one way or another, the essence of the legendary John Madden and what he meant to the game of football. The New York Giants organization is lucky enough to have a special one all their own.
The date was December 29, 2007. The Giants were hosting the undefeated New England Patriots in the final game of the regular season. The Pats had the top seed in the AFC locked up. They were playing for history. The Giants had already clinched a playoff berth and didn’t need to win the game. They were playing for pride.
It was an epic battle from start to finish. New York held the lead at the end of the first, second and third quarters, but ultimately fell by a score of 38-35. Giants QB Eli Manning threw for 251 yards and 4 TDs, matching New England signal caller Tom Brady’s 356 yards and 2 TD passes.
New York’s defense got to Brady only once but the experience of preparing for the Pats’ legendary offense would prove invaluable, as the Giants went on defeat the Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl just over one month later. They did so by utilizing a winning defensive formula of pressuring Brady almost entirely with just their four down linemen for much of the game.
Madden Reaches Out to Giants After Loss
GettyFormer New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
After the game was finished, New York head coach Tom Coughlin received a phone call from none other than Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster John Madden.
For whatever reason, Couglin was unable to take the call. But Tom Rock, Giants beat reporter for Newsday, took to Twitter on Tuesday, December 28 — the date that Madden passed away at the age of 85 — to share the voicemail Madden left for Coughlin nearly 14 years ago to the day.
This is the voicemail John Madden left for Tom Coughlin after he played to win in a “meaningless” game against the Pats in 2007:
Just called to congratulate you and your team for a great effort last night. Not good, but great. I think it’s one of the best things to happen in the NFL in the last 10 years, and I don’t know if they all know it, but they should be very grateful to you and your team for what you did. I believe so firmly in this: that there is only one way to play the game, and it is a regular season game and you go out and win the darn game. I was just so proud being a part of the NFL and of what your guys did and the way you did it. You proved that it’s a game and there’s only one way to play the game and you did it. The NFL needed it. We’ve gotten too much of, ‘Well, they’re going to rest their players and don’t need to win, therefore they won’t win.’ Well, that’s not sports and that’s not competition. I’m a little emotional about it. I’m just so proud. It’s something we all need to thank you for, and I believe the NFL needed that.
NFL Universe Pays Respect to a Titan of the Game
FOX SportsJohn Madden.
When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 2006, Madden reflected on the three distinct elements of his career in football — his start as a Super Bowl winning coach for the then Oakland Raiders, now the Las Vegas Raiders, his decades in the broadcast booth as inarguably the most prominent voice of America’s most popular sport, and his affiliation with the EA Sports Madden video game franchise that has cemented his status as a household name for generations of fans to come.
“People always ask, ‘Are you a coach or a broadcaster or a video game guy?'” Madden said to the crowd during his induction speech. “I’m a coach, always been a coach.”
The voicemail sent to Coughlin is a candid example of just how true that remained, even long after Madden had left the sideline behind. On Tuesday, the NFL universe stopped in its tracks to pay homage to one of its all-time legends.
“The term ‘Renaissance man’ is tossed around a little too loosely these days, but John was as close as you can come,” fellow iconic broadcaster Al Michaels told Calvin Watkins, of Dallas Morning News. “A dear friend, a wonderful partner in the broadcast booth and a man who brought so much joy to so many people. I’ll miss him enormously.”
“Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”
“Few individuals meant as much to the growth and popularity of professional football as Coach Madden, whose impact on the game both on and off the field was immeasurable,” the Raiders said in a statement posted to the team’s social media accounts.