Post by TheShadow on Aug 5, 2006 5:08:30 GMT -5
www.recordnet.com/
LORI GILBERT
Record Staff Writer
The image of Raiders coach John Madden on the sideline is vivid: perpetual motion, arms flailing, always wearing shirt sleeves and a field pass dangling from the belt loop of his pants.
That paper pass made you laugh. Who in their right mind would have kept John Madden out?
It turns out, the NFL Hall of Fame would. For 28 years, since Madden retired as the Raiders head coach, nine of his players have entered the hall, but in a mind-numbing, head-shaking oversight, Madden was overlooked.
Until today.
Madden finally gets his turn and will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, joining a team of 16 former Raiders whose busts already line the halls.
Call it overdue. Or in the words of managing owner Al Davis, "long overdue."
To dwell on the oversight though, is to waste time better spent remembering that which made Madden Hall of Fame worthy.
Before he livened up broadcast booths on three different television networks (and will add a fourth, NBC, starting with Sunday's Hall of Fame game), providing color commentary not with an eight-pack but a box of 64 Crayola crayons, Madden livened up the Raiders.
"He was the guy who built the intensity of our team," said Hall of Fame center Jim Otto. "He's the guy who got us ready for football games week after week."
Otto, the first player ever drafted by the Raiders, may have given them their swagger, but Madden put it to appropriate use.
Elevated to the head coach position at 32, after two years as the team's linebackers coach, Madden embarked on a 10-season run in which his team never had a losing record, reached the postseason eight times and won the franchise's first of three Super Bowl titles.
"He's a great coach," said Davis, who will introduce Madden at today's ceremony. "His record will stand. The thing that captivated me is that he had to go around the country with the Raiders. I don't have to tell you about the fear of the Raiders but the dislike of the Raiders in opposing stadiums. And here comes this big redhead bringing his football team in. He competed against all the big-time coaches, and he beat them all."
Indeed, Madden didn't have a losing record against any of the coaches who preceded him into the Hall. He had a 5-5 standoff with Pittsburgh coach Chuck Noll but had winning records against Tom Landry, Don Shula, Hank Stram, Weeb Ewbank, George Allen, Sid Gillman and Bud Grant, whose Minnesota team he beat in the 1977 Super Bowl.
His Raiders dominated AFC West rivals San Diego and Denver.
On the biggest stage, Monday Night Football, Madden's Raiders were 11-1-1.
"The games and names synonymous with ... (the) Raiders were accomplished with John at the helm," Davis said.
He was the linebackers coach in the infamous Heidi game, when NBC pulled the plug on Oakland's comeback win over the New York Jets in favor of the made-for-TV movie, but he was the head man for plenty of memorable Raiders moments.
He endured Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception in the 1972 playoffs and the Holy Roller game against San Diego in 1978, when Kenny Stabler deliberately fumbled, teammate Pete Banaszak knocked it forward and Dave Casper jumped on it in the end zone for a game-winning TD as time expired.
He dreamed up the Ghost to the Post play, with tight end Casper, and suffered the consequences of the quick whistle that erased Rob Lytle's fumble in Denver in the AFC championship game in 1977.
Younger than quarterback/kicker George Blanda when he was hired at 32 and only a year and a half older than Otto, Madden nonetheless commanded the respect of the players.
"In those days, players always had respect for their coaches, and John got that respect," Otto said. "He demanded respect and got it."
"He understood that each player is an individual and has to be treated that way," said Raiders coach Art Shell, another former player.
"If a guy got kicked in the butt," Otto said, "he also knew how to pick him up."
The Raiders' reputation in the Madden era was that of fierce players on the field and hard partiers off of it.
"We might have partied at night, but we worked hard the next day," Otto said. "We probably had a guilt complex we were trying to burn off."
The ferociousness of the Raiders was never more evident than in the preseason game of 1978, when Jack Tatum's hit paralyzed New England's Darryl Stingley for life.
Madden offered his family's home to Stingley's wife, who stayed there while waiting for her husband to be moved to Chicago to begin rehabilitation, according to Wikipedia.
Madden's own health, an ulcer that persisted through the 1978 season, finally helped him decide to retire.
He seamlessly made the transition to the booth, where he set a standard and a style all his own, although many have tried - unsuccessfully - to emulate him.
He's served as a pitchman, created the hugely popular "Madden NFL" video game series and wrote books.
He created the All-Madden team, and current players are eager to chat him up when he stops by training camp.
Madden is a football icon, almost bigger than life, yet he treats everyone with a folksy charm and kindness that is rare among broadcast celebrities.
Madden said he's "humbled" to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
It may be late in coming, but Madden finally has his pass, and there isn't anyone who could justify standing in his way.