Getty Former Raiders HC Jon Gruden.
It’s been over 40 years since John Madden was the head coach of the Raiders but his presence still looms large over the franchise. With news of his death coming on Tuesday, many current and former members of the silver and black have shared their thoughts on his passing. He touched a lot of people over the years with his coaching and broadcasting careers.
Jon Gruden was another coach that had a lot of success in the broadcast booth. Unlike Madden, he eventually left broadcasting to return to football. That decision didn’t end up being the right one as the coach resigned earlier in the year after a number of racist, misogynistic and homophobic emails were leaked to the media. Despite the fact that Gruden has stayed mostly quiet since his resignation, he had a chance to share his reaction to the news regarding Madden.
“He was what football and the Raiders are all about. God Bless the Madden family,” Gruden texted Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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Bisaccia Addresses the News
It’s can’t be overstated how important Madden was in turning the Raiders into an iconic franchise. He has the greatest winning percentage of any coach in NFL history with over 100 games coached and led the team to their first Super Bowl. All these years later, Rich Bisaccia now leads the franchise and spoke about the first time he met Madden.
“We lost an icon in the world of football,” Bisaccia said Wednesday. “It’s hard to say you could find a person who went through all the genres he did and been ultra-successful. I had a chance to shake his hand when I was with Tampa Bay and my hand disappeared. He lit up the room.”
The Raiders have already begun their tributes to Madden and there will likely be a big celebration of the Hall of Famer before their next home game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Voice of Raiders Talks Madden
To the Raiders, Madden will always be legendary for leading the team to their first Super Bowl. To the rest of the NFL, he’ll be remembered for his time as a broadcaster. Not only was he charismatic and funny, but he also had a unique way of teaching the fundamentals of football in a simple way.
Current Raiders play-by-play voice Brent Musburger has been broadcasting for decades and had a chance to work with Madden before. He praised Madden for his abilities.
“He knew all the X’s and O’s and intricacies, but he brought them in to the heart of the every man,” Musburger said. “I will tell you that no analyst in the history of the NFL has thought as much about the ‘Average Joe’ as John Madden did, and he explained the game. There’s never been an analyst who’s been able to do that in the history of football.”
There will never be another Madden but at least fans have decades worth of content to look back on.
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