The Patriots got the ball back with 1:30 remaining in Super Bowl 36, and John Madden thought they should've played for overtime.
“With no timeouts, I think that the Patriots — with this field position, you have to just run the clock out,” he said, via Boston.com. “You have to play for overtime now. I don’t think you want to force anything here. You don’t want to do anything stupid because you have no timeouts and you’re backed up.”
But much to Madden’s surprise, and delight, Tom Brady didn’t just hand the ball off and take a knee. On the second play, Brady connected with J.R. Redmond with a short pass over the middle, and then quickly ran up to the line of scrimmage and spiked the football. It was apparent the Patriots weren’t going to play scared.
Madden noticed. When Brady found Redmond for another first down, the all-time great head coach and broadcaster was all-in.
“And now, I kind of like what the Patriots are doing,” Madden said.
Madden passed away Tuesday at 85 years old, and leaves an unparalleled legacy in the broadcast booth. The Super Bowl champion was the most NFL broadcaster who displayed a dynamic personality and spoke to the laymen, rather than focusing strictly on X’s and O’s. He also popularized the practice of analysts watching game film and speaking with each club’s coach and quarterback before kick-off.
Working for Fox at the time, Madden witnessed the birth of the Patriots’ dynasty. While some analysts would rather twist themselves in pretzels than admit they were wrong, Madden relished the Patriots’ comeback attempt.
“This is amazing. This is something I will admit as a coach and as an analyst, I don’t think they shouldn’t have done,” he said. “But they had the guts, they had the young quarterback and they did it.”
Brady’s completion to Jermaine Wiggins propelled Madden to admit the then-baby faced QB gave him “goosebumps.” When Adam Vinatieri nailed the championship-winning 47-yarder, Madden was ebullient.
“That’s the way you should win a Super Bowl,” Madden said. “They come in here against all odds. They were backed up. They had no timeouts, and they drove the ball down and got in field-goal position. That was a great, great drive.”
And it was a great, great career. Though Madden didn’t retire from the booth until 2009, it was the only Patriots Super Bowl he called.
It's fitting the greatest broadcaster was there when the greatest dynasty began. (The Patriots' final drive begins at 1:58:00.)