PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden died unexpectedly at 85 this past Tuesday, some remembered that Madden was a draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958.
A knee injury essentially ended his playing career.
According to Sportsradio 94WIP's Ray Didinger, that's when Madden started watching game film with championship-winning Eagles quarterback Norm Van Brocklin.
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Didinger told KYW Newsradio's Dave Uram that Madden's interest in coaching was sparked in those conversations.
"Van Brocklin kind of took him under his wing a little bit, and began showing him stuff and began talking strategy and talking football with him," said Didinger.
"In some of my conversations with Madden, that was when he said he had never really thought about being a coach before. He always wanted to be a player. But he (then) knew well, 'I'm not going to play in the National Football League, but you know what, maybe I can be a coach somewhere.'"
Madden never played a regular-season game in Philadelphia, but those conversations sparked a decade of eventual head coaching excellence.
"It sort of opened the door to him going into coaching and then ultimately becoming a coach that won a Super Bowl. So it all started in Philadelphia," said Didinger.
"That's how John viewed it."
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After years as an assistant coach, Madden became the Oakland Raiders' head coach in 1969. His winning percentage (.759, 103-32-7) is the highest of any coach who won 100 regular-season games.
Madden then joined CBS Sports in 1979, entering a 30-year broadcast career that led him to be the main NFL analyst for all four major networks. He ended at CBS in 1993, worked with FOX from 1994-2001, ABC from 2002-05, and NBC from 2006-08.
During his induction speech in 2006, Madden playfully said that when the lights go out at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, he believes Hall of Fame inductees' busts talk to each other.
Jay Sorgi contributed to this report.
Listen to Dave Uram's full conversation with Sportsradio 94WIP's Ray Didinger below.
