FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who is often a man of few words, took quite some time Wednesday to reflect on the passing of Hall of Fame coach and football personality John Madden.
Madden died Tuesday at the age of 85.
[ John Madden dies at 85, NFL says ]
On Wednesday morning, Bill Belichick spoke about the news. The transcript below is from the New England Patriots.
Bill Belichick:
I’ll just start with our condolences to the Madden family. It’s a huge loss for the NFL and professional football. John is just a tremendous person to be around. I think we all, probably, set out to try to have a good professional career. John had about five of them. He set the standard for coaching in his era. They had the best record, best teams, championships, and all that. Raiders had a great style of play that was very, I’d say, captivating. He, certainly, did a lot for the league and the competitiveness of the league. He was a great champion for minorities and minority scouting. Some of the great players that they had with the Raiders from the smaller black colleges, he and [Al] Davis brought into the organization. Then he moved to broadcasting and, certainly, increased the popularity of the game, singlehandedly, by quite a bit. I don’t know how you’d ever measure that, but I think everybody that liked football enjoyed John’s commentary. A lot of people who probably didn’t even care about football found John entertaining and watched football because of him. He brought a lot of people to the game. He brought a perspective to the game that was very unique. Loved by all. I had a great opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with John. It seemed like he and Pat [Summerall] covered our games with the Giants every week. It was like a weekly broadcast crew. Going out to John’s bus and just spending time with him there and through the years, all the way up to Super Bowl XXXVI, all the other things that he’s done for the league… I particularly enjoyed the Top 100 conversations with John. There were about five or six of us that watched some of the players from the 20s, 30s, and 40s and those eras, decades. We had a lot of great conversations about the games that we saw, the players that we saw, the way the game was played, comparisons, comments, and so forth. John did a lot for player safety. I know he was on several committees in the league, advisory, and so forth, and studying the safety of the game, player safety. I know he’s instrumental in a lot of those changes, improvements to help player safety, specifically the defenseless receivers and protecting the quarterback, things like that. Just a very well-rounded person that had a great love of life, love of football, love of the history of football. He was always such an enjoyable person to be around and converse with unless you were standing across the field from him. That was a little different story. So, it’s a sad day for all football fans and, of course, the Madden game has to be one of the most popular things going. I think most of the current players in this generation knows John Madden through that and that’s a big part of it. Certainly, the popularity of football through the Madden game is pretty outstanding as well. He put it all together. Great person. Multiple great careers. Most importantly, just a great influence on the game of football and professional football. He was a good friend.
On what made John Madden so impactful to the game of football:
BB: You can probably ask everybody that question. I think it was his enthusiasm and love for football. He just had a great perspective on the left foot spot, the right foot spot. He had so many things that just were obvious, but when he brought them to light, he did it in a humorous, yet educational way. Just always seemed to say the right thing and had the right mix of whatever the situation called for, whether it was emotionally or analytically. Whatever was called for, he always seemed to have the right words, the right perspective, and did it in a way that was easy to understand, concise, and as I said, a lot of times, humorous.
On any advice he received from John Madden:
BB: Sure. There are a lot of them. Yeah. I’d keep that between John and myself.
On if he has ever listened back to John Madden’s analysis of Super Bowl XXXVI:
BB: I feel like my career crisscrossed with John on a number of times. Probably too many to count, but again, all the Giants’ games, the Giants’ Super Bowls, I think he did either my first or second game in Cleveland. I forget which one it was. It was a preseason game. It was a national game. He came in and did that, so right off the bat in Cleveland. Then, through Cleveland to, as you said, Super Bowl XXXVI and all that. Then, as I mentioned, the Top 100 and all that. I’ve talked to John on a lot of different levels and had a lot of different experiences and conversations with him. All good. I feel like I have had the opportunity to see a lot, learn a lot, and experience a lot the year I was in Denver. We played them a couple times, and that was a little different seeing him in the same division and seeing him through that lens as a real competitor on the other side of the field. I mean, I had really minor role in it, but still, to face off against Al Davis, John Madden, the Raiders, there was a certain mystique or charisma that they had. I’m glad I experienced it.
On if he had ever played the Madden football game:
BB: I haven’t played in quite a while. I know when my kids were growing up, they would play it. I’d watch them and they’d beat me.
On if he remembers what team he played with in the Madden video game:
BB: I don’t. No. I don’t.
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