Age, Biography, and Wiki
John Madden was born on April 10, 1936, in Austin, Minnesota. He passed away on December 28, 2021, at the age of 85. Madden was a renowned NFL coach, broadcaster, and entrepreneur. Throughout his career, he coached the Oakland Raiders and later became a celebrated sports commentator, known for his charismatic commentary style.
Occupation | Football Players |
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Date of Birth | 10 April 1936 |
Age | 89 Years |
Birth Place | Austin, Minnesota, U.S. |
Horoscope | Aries |
Country | U.S |
Date of death | 28 December, 2021 |
Died Place | Pleasanton, California, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about John Madden's height and weight are not widely emphasized, he was known for his robust stature, which suited his larger-than-life personality in the sports world.
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Dating & Relationship status
John Madden was married to Virginia Fields from 1959 until his death in 2021. They had two sons, Joseph and Michael Madden.
His father, an auto mechanic, moved the Madden family to Daly City, California, located south of San Francisco, when John was young. John attended Catholic parochial school with John Robinson at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, graduating in 1950, and then Jefferson High School, graduating in 1954.
Madden met his wife, Virginia Fields, in a bar in Pismo Beach, California. They married on December 26, 1959, in Santa Maria, California. Afterward, they lived in Pleasanton, California, and had two sons, Joseph and Michael. Joe played football for the Brown Bears. Mike attended Harvard University, where he started as receiver on the football team. A grandson, Jesse, played football for the Michigan Wolverines in the early 2020s and was hired as a quality control coach for the Washington Commanders in 2025.
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of his death, John Madden's net worth was estimated to be $200 million. His earnings came from a variety of sources, including his work as a coach, broadcaster, and his lucrative deal with EA Sports for the "Madden NFL" video game series. He earned approximately $14 million annually from the video game franchise alone.
Career, Business, and Investments
- Coaching Career: Madden began his coaching career with Allan Hancock College and later became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, leading them to a Super Bowl victory in 1976.
- Broadcasting Career: After coaching, Madden transitioned into broadcasting, becoming one of the most recognizable voices in sports. He worked with major networks like CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC.
- Madden NFL Video Game Franchise: The "Madden NFL" series, launched in 1988, has been incredibly successful, selling over 250 million copies worldwide. Madden's involvement with EA Sports significantly boosted his net worth.
- Business and Endorsements: Madden was one of the first entertainers to earn over $1 million annually from endorsements. He also authored several books and appeared in numerous advertisements.
On January 3, 1959, Madden played in the All-American Bowl in Tucson, Arizona, and was later praised by Lou Pavlovich of The Sporting News for his play in the showcase. In August 1959, he suffered an injury on his other knee in his first training camp, during an Eagles scrimmage, ending his playing career without having had an opportunity to play in a regulation game professionally.
Building on that success, Madden was hired by Al Davis as linebackers coach for the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1967, putting him in the Sid Gillman coaching tree. He helped the team reach Super Bowl II that season. A year later, after Raiders head coach John Rauch resigned to take the same position with the Buffalo Bills, Madden was named the Raiders' head coach on February 4, 1969, becoming, at the age of 32, the AFL/NFL's youngest head coach to that time.
Madden's first Raiders squad went 12–1–1 in 1969 but lost 17–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last-ever American Football League Championship Game. This would become a frustrating trend during Madden's coaching career. Oakland won seven AFC West division championships and always played to a winning record during his ten seasons as head coach, but they also lost in six AFL/AFC Championship Games.
The Raiders made the playoffs in 1977 as a Wild Card team, but again lost the AFC Championship Game, this time to the Denver Broncos. The Raiders enjoyed their tenth straight winning campaign under Madden in 1978 but failed to qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in his tenure. Soon after their season ended, Madden announced his retirement on January 4, 1979, due to a troublesome ulcer and occupational burnout, stating that he was permanently ending his coaching career.
Among Madden's accomplishments as a head coach were winning a Super Bowl, and becoming the youngest coach to reach 100 career regular-season victories, a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42. Madden is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history.
Madden viewed the game as an educational tool. During initial planning conversations with Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, Madden envisioned the program as a tool for teaching and testing plays. He stated in 2012 that Madden NFL was "a way for people to learn the game [of football] and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level".
Madden never did commentary for the Pro Bowl, which was held in Honolulu every year of his broadcasting career. Likewise, Madden never called any preseason game held outside of North America, even when his play-by-play partner was on the telecast. Madden found an unexpected use for his bus in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when he provided transportation for former ice-skating champion Peggy Fleming, whose flight home to Los Gatos, California, had been grounded.
In June 2016, Madden's bocce tournament, co-hosted with Steve Mariucci, raised $5 million for Special Olympics Northern California, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Diabetes Youth Foundation. In 2021, Madden began funding six scholarships to his alma mater, Cal Poly, for students from various East Bay high schools.
Social Network
While John Madden was not particularly active on social media, his legacy continues to be celebrated through various sports and gaming communities online.
Madden joined CBS as a color commentator in 1979. After working lower-profile contests during his first years, he was elevated to CBS's top football broadcasting duo with Pat Summerall in 1981, replacing Tom Brookshier. Prior to teaming with Summerall on CBS, Madden was paired with a variety of announcers, such as Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Dick Stockton, Frank Glieber, and Gary Bender. The team of Madden and Summerall would go on to call eight Super Bowls together.
Education
Madden attended Allan Hancock College and later graduated from Grays Harbor College in 1958. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 1959.
A football star in high school, Madden played one season at the College of San Mateo, in 1954, before he was given a football scholarship to the University of Oregon, studying pre-law, and playing football with childhood friend John Robinson. He was redshirted because of a knee injury and had a knee operation.
In 1955, he attended the College of San Mateo, then Grays Harbor College, playing in the fall of 1956, before transferring to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he played both offense and defense for the Mustangs in 1957 and 1958 while earning a Bachelor of Science in education in 1959 and then a Master of Arts in education in 1961. Madden's senior research project at Cal Poly focused on the use of weights to increase strides and speed in athletic training.
Madden recounted how he became involved with coaching: "I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles — a knee injury — and I couldn't play. While I was rehabbing, Norm Van Brocklin would be watching films and would explain what was happening. I ended up with a degree in teaching and my love for football meshed with teaching."
In 1960, he became an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. He was promoted to head coach in 1962. Madden went 12–6 in two seasons, including an 8–1 mark in 1963, during which his Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 nationally among city colleges. Following the 1963 season, he was hired as a defensive assistant coach at San Diego State, where he served to 1966. During that final campaign, the 1966 Aztecs were ranked among the top small colleges in the country. While at San Diego State, Madden coached under Don Coryell, whom Madden credited as being an influence on his coaching.
In 1984, Madden took the advice of NFL coach John Robinson—a friend of Madden since elementary school—and created the "All-Madden" team, a group of players who Madden thought represented football and played the game the way he thought it should be played. Madden continued to pick the All-Madden team to the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC and Monday Night Football. Madden added his "Hall of Fame" for his favorite players. He created a special 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994, an All-Madden Super Bowl Team in 1997, and an All-Time All-Madden team in 2000. All Madden was the title of Madden's third best-selling book, after ''Hey, Wait A Minute? I Wrote a Book and One Knee Equals Two Feet''.
Madden's aversion to flying was well known, although his fear was not realized until many years into his adult life. He had lost people close to him in the October 29, 1960, California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash that claimed the lives of 16 players, the team's student manager, and a football booster. In 1979, he had his first panic attack on a flight originating in Tampa, Florida. He never flew on a plane again. Madden stated once in an interview that his fears were not about turbulence, flying, or heights, but primarily claustrophobia.
In October 2022, Cal Poly and the Madden family announced that Madden had donated a leading contribution toward a total $30-million football facility on the Cal Poly campus. The facility, to be named the John Madden Football Center, would furnish all-new lockers, strength and conditioning facilities, a nutrition center, offices, training rooms and a film-review theater for the team's coaches, players and trainers. The facility will encompass 30,000 square feet and is anticipated to open in 2029, with the entrance adjacent to the university's memorial for the 1960 airline crash victims, many of whom were Madden's friends.