Editor's Note: KCBS Radio will have full coverage of John Madden's public memorial celebration online and on the air. You can stream the ceremony live on KCBSRadio.com starting at 5:30 p.m., and tune into KCBS Radio 106.9 FM and 740 AM.
Family, friends and fans will gather at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday evening to remember the late John Madden.
For most, he will be remembered for his championship-winning 10-year run as Oakland Raiders head coach, his Hall-of-Fame broadcasting career and the countless memorable appearances on KCBS Radio. However, his two sons, Joseph and Mike, will simply remember him as their dad.
"I've been asked my whole life 'hey what's it like to have John Madden as your dad?' I used to answer kind of in a flippant fashion 'well, he's the only dad I ever had, I don’t really know what to compare it to,'" Mike Madden told KCBS Radio's Holly Quan and Dan Mitchinson on Monday.
However, he acknowledged that while that sentiment still holds true, he has been able to appreciate the uniqueness of his upbringing.
"Dad was the head coach from the time I was 5 until 15, so to be that age and grow up with the Raiders and the success they had in 1976, was a pretty cool thing," he said.
The elder Madden helmed the Raiders from 1969-1978, highlighted a Super Bowl win over the Minnesota Vikings in 1976 by a score of 32 to 14. All tickets to Monday’s memorial are on sale for $32.14, in honor of that victory.
After retiring from coaching in 1978, Madden embarked on a 40-year career as a legendary TV commentator, often taking his family along for the ride with him.
"As we grew into adults and after college, I ended up coaching high school football at Foothill High out here in Pleasanton. Once our season was over, the first thing I would do is I'd catch a plane and go to wherever he was," the younger Madden said. "That would usually be the fun part of the season. I would fly to join him in Green Bay, or Dallas or New York City, and take the bus for a couple of weeks, and it was great. That's when the football games were fun and exciting, and then in the meantime, if you're stuck in Dallas on a Wednesday, you might be going to dinner with Jerry Jones."
All ticket proceeds from the memorial will go to the newly formed John Madden foundation, a scholarship fund aimed at providing opportunities to underserved Oakland youth. Mike Madden said creating the scholarship was one of the things his father did in the last several months of his life and his mom, Virginia, wants to continue that in John's name.
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