Late Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and former KCBS Radio broadcaster John Madden has been honored on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Eric Swalwell led an hourlong tribute to his constituent on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, along with fellow California Democrats Rep. Jim Costa, Rep. Jerry McNerney and Illinois Republican Rep. Rodney Davis.
"Aside from the coaching and the football legacy, what he did for the local community, especially through the Madden-Mariucci Bocce Tournament that funded a lot of local initiatives," Swalwell said of Madden in an interview with KCBS Radio's Kris Ankarlo and Patti Reising on Tuesday afternoon.
Madden coached the then-Oakland Raiders for 10 seasons and led them to the first Super Bowl win in franchise history in 1977. After retiring from coaching, he became arguably the most popular football broadcaster the game has known and worked as a color commentator for 30 years on four networks.
Swalwell said Davis, who was also first elected to Congress in 2012, grew up a massive Raiders fan. Davis told Swalwell after Madden's passing he would be honored to reach across the aisle and lead a tribute to the iconic coach alongside a Democratic colleague.
"The two of us, for a little while, talked about what united us," Swalwell told KCBS Radio. "I don't know if we're going to sort out what coach Madden's concern was when I first met him about the discord in Congress, but for at least a half-hour today, you had Republicans and Democrats agreeing on the impact that coach Madden had in the community."
Madden was also a familiar voice on KCBS Radio for more than 20 years. He appeared as a guest on the station’s morning newscast five days a week from 1997-2015, and then twice a week from 2017-2018.
Younger generations know him for his signature Madden NFL video game series, which over the past 34 years has become the best-selling sports franchise in U.S. history.
Madden was born in Minnesota but grew up in Daly City, graduating from Jefferson High School. He later attended the College of San Mateo and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, earning all-conference honors as an offensive tackle for the Mustangs. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Madden in 1958, but he retired before ever playing an NFL game due to a knee injury.
During his time as head coach of the Raiders, Madden never had a losing season, and his overall winning percentage is the highest among all NFL coaches who coached at least 100 games.
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