Post by TheShadow on Aug 2, 2006 18:20:01 GMT -5
www.mercurynews.com
By Mark Purdy
San Jose Mercury News
(MCT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. - What makes a Hall of Famer?
You can argue that question deep into the peanut shells on the floor of any sports bar in America.
But from here, the answer is very simple:
Without that person, the sport would not be the same. And the game's history would be significantly altered.
John Madden, who will be inducted Saturday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is the consummate example.
Think about it. Think about what the NFL would be like if Madden had never existed. Think about how America's football culture would be - boom - so different.
For just one example, when talking about the sport, people would not use the word "boom" as much.
Also:
The Raiders would likely own one fewer Super Bowl trophy.
Kenny Stabler might not have been given the chance to quarterback the Raiders to so many great comebacks.
Art Shell might never have received a confidence boost to think he could become the NFL's first African-American head coach in the modern era.
Spring mini-camps might not exist, because Madden believes he was the first coach to hold them.
NFL Films would have far less entertaining footage from the 1970s.
Miller Lite beer commercials during NFL broadcasts would be rare or non-existent - because the brand never would have been so successfully launched without a marketing campaign largely built around Madden.
Pat Summerall might have had to announce bowling instead of becoming Madden's ubiquitous Sunday sidekick.
Jefferson High School's football field in Daly City might not have the lights he donated to his alma mater.
And this month, Xbox jockeys from coast to coast would be buying the new Dierdorf `07 video game - or more likely, not buying it.
You get the point. If you believe that all of the above has made football a more fun experience over the past 35 years or so, then Madden may be the most slam-dunk Hall of Famer inducted in the 21st century.
Of course, as Madden would remind you, he is entering the Hall strictly as a coach. Which makes sense. None of the other stuff associated with his name would have happened unless he had accumulated his impressive 112-39-7 record in 10 years as Raiders coach.
But that is where, if you wish, you can play another what-if game.
In reviewing any man's life, there are subtle turning points that, in retrospect, sent him on the path toward his destiny. For Madden, those turning points began in his hometown, a few blocks away from Daly City's small but lively Marchbank Park. During the late 1940s, it became a pocket paradise for Madden and his childhood pal, John Robinson.
"We were kind of degenerate sports kids, I guess you could say," Robinson said during a phone interview. "In football, we pretended to be the 49ers and in baseball, the Yankees. We'd play there until dark and then go home."
The two boys, however, did not just play the games. They helped organize the games. Robinson, who would go on to coach at USC and with the Los Angeles Rams, said that even in those days, the pals showed signs that coaching might be in their future. By the time they reached high school, they were even talking about it. They would visit 49ers training camp at Menlo College, or try sneaking into games at Kezar Stadium.
But Madden, perhaps even to his own surprise, turned out to be a very decent college tackle at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. This led to a few more twists of fate: The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Madden (in the 21st round), but in a rookie camp, he mangled knee ligaments and spent the 1959 season rehabbing the injury. The Eagles' 1959 roster featured four future Hall of Famer players - Norm Van Brocklin, Sonny Jurgensen, Tommy McDonald and Chuck Bednarik - so the big kid from California sat around and soaked up knowledge.
"I knew I wasn't going to play that year," Madden said last month. "But I stayed the whole season....I went in early for treatment and after treatment, the only guy there was Van Brocklin, in the locker room. In those days, we didn't have meeting rooms. He was watching film in there. I would sit in the back and watch film. Then he invited me up to the front."
That, said Madden, was the first time he realized the intricacies of pro football's big picture, and started "getting serious on this coaching thing." He never played again, but returned to California and in succession coached at San Luis Obispo High, Hancock Junior College and San Diego State.
It was there when, in November 1966, Madden met Raiders owner Al Davis, who was scouting Aztecs. Another subtle turning point? No, a big one. Madden, the team's defensive coordinator, sat and chatted with Davis for an hour about football.
Soon thereafter, Davis hired Madden as a Raiders assistant - and just two years later, named him coach. Madden was only 32. But he and Davis, though they didn't agree on everything, developed as synchronized a relationship as any owner and coach had during that era.
The partnership resulted in seven trips to the AFC championship game, plus a Super Bowl victory over Minnesota. Madden was especially adroit at handling Stabler, a fractious character who didn't fit Davis' model of the bomb-throwing quarterback and once sarcastically referred to Davis as "the genius." Madden served as a buffer, stuck with Stabler and put him in position to lead one of the NFL's most legendary teams.
Along the way, Madden was also creating his own legacy. Art Shell, the Raiders' current coach, was an All-Pro tackle for Madden and often worked with younger players after practice. Madden noticed.
"I had always wanted to be a coach, thinking it would probably be in high school or college," Shell said this week. "But...one day, I'm walking off the field and John says, `Hey, coach, how you doing?' We both laughed. But John told me, `You know, if you weren't playing, I would hire you on my staff because I think you can be a heckuva coach one day.' Bells went off for me. And I thought to myself, `You know, rather than high school or college, maybe I can do it at this level.' It was the first time I'd had that thought."
Davis would later hire Shell as the first black NFL head coach of the modern era. Madden would quit coaching because of ulcers and stress, then make himself a brand name on many levels. All three men will be in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday to pose with Madden at his induction ceremony. Try picturing NFL history without that picture. It's hard. In fact, it's damn near unthinkable.