Thousands Gather to Bid Farewell to Beloved Raiders Coach John Madden
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – Fans began gathering early Monday morning ahead of a Valentine's Day memorial at the RingCentral Coliseum for beloved Oakland Raiders coach John Madden, who died in late December.
The memorial began at 5:30 p.m. Among those scheduled to speak were Madden's son, Mike, Washington coach Ron Rivera, Steve Mariucci, Art Shell, Andy Reid, Matt Millen, Lesley Visser and his radio show partner KCBS's Stan Bunger.
All proceeds from tickets for the event are going to the John Madden Foundation to provide educational opportunities for youth in Oakland. The cost of admission to the event was $32.14, representing the final score of the Raiders' Super Bowl XI win over the Vikings in 1977.
Vivianne Caedes will be among those pausing to remember the Raiders legend. She posted on Twitter -- "If you can afford a ticket, and you clearly want to experience the game and support the city nearest you, and have an authentic American experience - it shouldn't matter if you don't have a John Madden like knowledge of the game."
"He is the epitome of what the Raiders have been. The legacy all starts with him." said one Madden fan who knew she couldn't miss a Monday night tribute to the football legend.
"John believed in the town of Oakland, he believed in the Coliseum, most of all he believed in the Raiders," his widow Virginia Madden said at the mermorial Monday. "I believe in the Raiders. The Oakland Raiders."
That drew a loud ovation from the fans who showed up for the event and have stuck with the Raiders during their 13 seasons in Los Angeles and after their move in 2020 to Las Vegas.
The event featured video tributes to Madden's Hall of Fame career as a coach and broadcaster, and video messages from Hall of Famers like Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
"I feel like my career was supposed to be narrated by John Madden," Favre said. "I loved John. I sensed the great relationship we had. ... He was a larger-than-life figure if you didn't know him and even larger than life if you did know him. I'm just thankful for my relationship with him."
There were also live speeches from several luminaries close to Madden over the years such as coaches Andy Reid, Ron Rivera and Steve Mariucci.
"He taught me never to lose my childish love for life," Reid said.
Born in 1936, Madden grew up in Daly City and played two seasons of college football at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
As the head coach for the renegade Raiders, Madden became only the second person to hold the position after Raiders General Manager and original head coach Al Davis and John Rauch, taking the job in 1969 at the age of 32. At the time, he was the youngest person to become a head coach in professional football.
Madden would compile a stellar 103-32-7 regular-season record, leading the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI in 1977 against the Minnesota Vikings after a 13-1 regular season.
Madden would become the youngest coach to reach 100 career regular-season victories, a record he racked up in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42. He remains the coach with the most wins in Raiders history.
Health issues -- largely from a nervous stomach -- and a fear of flying helped contribute to an early retirement from coaching.
Madden became an even more impactful figure in the broadcast booth, entertaining millions who tuned in to NFL football. Madden's highly animated style of commentary -- frequently punctuated with his signature exclamation "Boom!" -- made him a fan favorite and one of the most recognizable figures in the sport.
He would work with all four major networks over the course of his broadcast career that stretched from 1979 until his retirement in 2008. His fear of flying famously led to Madden traveling by bus from game to game for broadcasts.
A new generation was introduced to Madden after he became the name behind the hugely popular sports video game franchise, "Madden NFL Football." The annual editions of the game have collectively sold over 250 million copies.
By one estimate, Madden NFL has racked up more than $4 billion in sales since it was first introduced in 1988.
In 2006, Madden was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
Throughout his life, Madden continued to have ties to the Bay Area, living in Pleasanton and having a daily sports segment on KCBS Radio.
Anyone living in the Bay Area likely heard Madden on the station calling into KCBS's Stan Bunger.
"You know there was not a single time in all those years when we said goodbye to him and hung up the phone and went to commercial break and looked at the studio and said, 'Well, that sucked," because it never happened that way," remembered Bunger. :It was always fresh and original and sometimes deep. Sometimes it was really funny and sometimes technical, because it was about a game. You always walked away having learned something. He was a real teacher."