Post by TheShadow on Jul 14, 2006 17:40:41 GMT -5
www.raiders.com/
Legendary Raiders head coach John Madden will take his place among professional sports' immortals when he is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during induction ceremonies in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday, August 5th. Raiders owner and Hall of Fame enshrinee Al Davis will present Madden for induction - it will mark the ninth time he has served in that role.
According to Madden, he was a bit taken aback when he heard the news of his selection and is still in awe after having the past few months to reflect. "It's just so big, it's hard to imagine. You know, when I was voted in, it was the day before the Super Bowl. I had that, then the excitement of it. I thought I was going to get a call before. When I didn't get a call, I didn't think I made it," Madden explained.
"Then I'm watching the NFL Network, Rich Eisen is up there announcing it. He goes 'Troy Aikman, Harry Carson,' then he said 'John Madden.' I don't remember anything for the next eight or 10 hours. So you have all this time to think about what happened, your whole career, all the players and everyone. You have the election, then you have all the time to think about it. Now it's in a couple of weeks. That's going to be one of the biggest weekends of my life," Madden said.
Madden joined the Raiders as linebackers coach in 1967 and served in that capacity for two seasons until he was named to succeed John Rauch as head coach at age 32 in 1969. During his 10-year tenure, Madden compiled a 103-32-7 regular season record. His .759 regular season winning percentage is the highest in the history of professional football among head coaches with at least 100 career victories. At age 42, he became the third-youngest coach to reach 100 wins, behind only fellow Hall of Famers George Halas and Curly Lambeau.
Madden led the Silver and Black to the franchise's first World Championship of Professional Football following the 1976 season when his Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI. He took his teams to the playoffs in eight of his 10 seasons on the sideline, posting a 9-7 overall record, guiding them to the AFL or AFC Championship Game seven times.
He still has vivid memories of the Super Bowl experience. "Well, the thing I remember after that game, the next week I was at a banquet. Roger Staubach was there. He came up and shook my hand and said, 'One thing about it, they can never say you can't win the big one again for the rest of your life.' And that was pretty strong because Roger had gone through that same thing," Madden recalled. "Everyone kind of goes through that, where you have a good team, you're getting close, but you haven't won it. That's your, 'Yeah, but.' They have a good record, yeah, they win a lot of games, win divisions, but they never won the Super Bowl. When you win the Super Bowl, that eliminates all your 'Yeah, but's.' It was just a great year, a great time. It was in Pasadena. Everything just fell right for us. Not only that year, but that day. It's still something that is imprinted on my mind."
The man who led the Raiders to victory in such memorable classics as The Sea of Hands game against the Miami Dolphins and the Holy Roller against San Diego credits Al Davis for being a guiding light during his coaching career.
"Al Davis has been the biggest influence in my professional football life. I mean, he was a guy that gave me an opportunity, one, to get into professional football in 1967 as an assistant coach, and then at the age of 32, giving me the opportunity to be the head coach. That was something that was very special," Madden said.
"I mean, there weren't a lot of people that thought John Madden, the linebacker coach, is going to be the head coach of the Raiders. Al believed in me, then gave me the opportunity. During the time, the 10 years I was head coach, he gave me everything. I was never turned down for one thing that I ever wanted for football by Al Davis," Madden explained.
"Since I've been out, we're still friends. We still see each other all the time," Madden continued. "I just had dinner with him last week on his birthday. He's one of my best friends in life. You know, if it weren't for Al, you don't know where you would have gone."
Since leaving the sidelines, Madden has enjoyed tremendous success as a television broadcaster and the driving force behind one of the most popular video game franchises of all-time and has been able to stay close to a game he truly loves. Madden compiled a 36-16-2 record against the 10 future Hall of Fame coaches against whom he competed, finishing his career with a winning record against each one.
But the affable and jovial Madden is quick to credit the cast of characters who made up the Raiders roster. "I had great players. We had fun. I always felt if it's a game, it has to be fun. The thing I think people missed a lot is I have a core of not only great players but great people. They were solid people. Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, Willie Brown, Dave Casper, Fred Biletnikoff. Those were solid, solid people," Madden said.
"When a character would come in, he didn't lead the band; the band was being led by pretty solid guys. You had that. It was just a break in the monotony. Ted Hendricks was probably the biggest combination of a guy that was a character, great player, Hall of Famer," Madden said. "You don't want characters just because they're characters. I got Ted Hendricks, who was a great player, a Hall of Fame player, now he's a character. I liked that, too."
When he takes his rightful place in Canton, he will be recognized for his accomplishments as a head football coach. Those Raiders teams weren't a part of history - they made history. Madden coached nine Raiders who are now Hall of Famers. He was given the opportunity to be a head coach by a Hall of Famer. On August 5th, John Madden will become a Hall of Famer as well.