RIP John Madden

[DropKickFlutie]

RIP John. I just watched the special on him before Sunday's games. Eerie that he would pass away suddenly right after that. I feel badly for his wife and two sons. They were obviously a close family.

They're being mysterious about his illness or death, I wonder if people knew 18 months ago to get this Madden show out soon. Kind of like how there were movies about RBG before it happened, almost as if people kind of knew.

 

[italian pat patriot]

I like Trent Green

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Sorry to dampen the mood but no.

The Patriots were real, and winning, in the 60's, 70's and 80's.

Local and national media have done everything in their power to denigrate, dismiss and ignore the truth.

Billy Sullivan had shortcomings that have been trumpeted to make him out to be worse than all the legion of sick, twisted, racist, greed-driven petty NFL owners throughout history. He did what it took to have a homeless yet highly competitive team in the 60's, then with no government support built one of only a half dozen privately funded stadiums in the country, and hired the 'controversial' coach who made the Patriots seriously good within a year, and two years later Super Bowl champions but for unparalleled atrocities at a time when winning an NFL title was reserved for only the elite.

Three fake scandals, one with made up allegations and the other two with barely existent infractions, including stolen top draft picks and $millions spent to suspend Tom Brady for nothing as though he were Greg Hardy or Ray Rice, contradict any illusion of being 'respected'.

The media's eternal false laughingstock narrative perpetuates their schtick using the Patriots as a punchline. From losing their minds when the Patriots went 2-14 in 1981, which I apparently am the only person ever who knows or mentions that was the one (1) losing season they had in 13 years, to grounds crew at the SuperDome complaining that the Patriots' logo was too intricate to comfortably paint in the end zone, derision of the team in ignorance and/or denigration of their on field accomplishments has been out of control since the merger in 1970.

Anti-Patriots hysteria was already in full force then, and the fact it has only intensified every year since, with help from Kraft's stupid flying elvis, contributes to this:

The passing of John Madden yesterday, along with the death of Ben Dreith last April, first and foremost punctuate that December 18, 1976 and its aftermath will perpetuate in infamy forever.

Sorry to dampen your memories, but yes. The New England Patriots in their first 41 years from 1960-2000 were indistinguishable from 1968-2008 Cincinnati Bengals, their first 41 years.

Both had 2 Super Bowl appearances, both losses.

10 total postseason appearances for the Pats vs. 8 for the Bengals.

A 10 year stretch of bad play from the mid 60s to mid 70s and a 5 year stretch of horrid play plus scandal from the late 80s to early 90s, reasonably competitive the rest of the time…. Indistinguishable from the Bengals 1991 - 2002 horror show and reasonably competitive other years.

The Patriots had a 0.465 winning percentage versus the Bengals’ 0.435. A difference of 1 extra win every 2 seasons for the Patriots compared to the Bengals.

Both with ownership groups known as cheap who had no money who fired coaches over money and control. With the Patriots owner actually going bankrupt not long after putting together a shoddy stadium that couldn’t handle all the toilets flushing. Their next owner put the Patriots at the top of Johnny Carson’s monologues. Mike Brown has been bad, but nowhere near that level.

If you think the Bengals were real, and winning, in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s, then I’ll concede that the Patriots were too in the 1960s, 1970s,, and 1980s. But guess what? No one outside of Cincinnati views them as anything but the Bungles……. And no one outside of New England viewed us as anything but the Patsies until Belichick and Brady showed up.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Sorry to dampen your memories, but yes. The New England Patriots in their first 41 years from 1960-2000 were indistinguishable from 1968-2008 Cincinnati Bengals, their first 41 years.

Both had 2 Super Bowl appearances, both losses.

10 total postseason appearances for the Pats vs. 8 for the Bengals.

A 10 year stretch of bad play from the mid 60s to mid 70s and a 5 year stretch of horrid play plus scandal from the late 80s to early 90s, reasonably competitive the rest of the time…. Indistinguishable from the Bengals 1991 - 2002 horror show and reasonably competitive other years.

The Patriots had a 0.465 winning percentage versus the Bengals’ 0.435. A difference of 1 extra win every 2 seasons for the Patriots compared to the Bengals.

Both with ownership groups known as cheap who had no money who fired coaches over money and control. With the Patriots owner actually going bankrupt not long after putting together a shoddy stadium that couldn’t handle all the toilets flushing. Their next owner put the Patriots at the top of Johnny Carson’s monologues. Mike Brown has been bad, but nowhere near that level.

If you think the Bengals were real, and winning, in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s, then I’ll concede that the Patriots were too in the 1960s, 1970s,, and 1980s. But guess what? No one outside of Cincinnati views them as anything but the Bungles……. And no one outside of New England viewed us as anything but the Patsies until Belichick and Brady showed up.

Great post

 

[patsfan13]

 

[NormZauchin]

John hated to fly. I guess that he's taken a special bus up to the pearly gates.

 

[Deus Irae]

"It was like being on tour with a rock group. Madden was so much larger than life." @Andrea_Kremer was part of the inception of Sunday Night Football with John Madden and she shared why it was all about "team" with him, even in the broadcast booth. (via @gmfb)

 

[archstanton543]

 

[captain stone]

I like Trent Green

As do I.

Greg Gumbel & Trent Green are The Best broadcasting duo in football.

 

[italian pat patriot]

John hated to fly.

Seems his last flight was dated 1979
A partial one as destination was SF but he stopped in HOU

Fascinated about his bus travelling

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Oh wow I had no idea Madden had California roots near Brady or Edelman. Makes a lot of sense. Looks like he grew up outside of SF, played college call in Brady's town, and also died in the area. This would explain why Electronic Arts approached him, the founder there is also a SF guy and it looks like they were considering people in the area like Montana, the Cal Bears coach, and Madden was their 3rd choice for the videogame.

.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Seems his last flight was dated 1979
A partial one as destination was SF but he stopped in HOU

Fascinated about his bus travelling

Fascinating how he was able to coach a decade without issue and then all of a sudden couldn't fly anymore. The bus thing sounds fun, basically see all of the country on the road almost-RV-style. He lived a great life.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yep; on the one hand his team, UNQUESTIONABLY the dirtiest in the league during and after his tenure there, was gift-wrapped a PO victory they did not ****ing deserve… On the other hand, the quote above is Nothing Less than one of the most Iconic moments in the history of sports broadcasting…

RIP coach, but it’s not like I’m going to light a candle for him either.

p.s.: His man-love for Brett Favre was a ****ing embarrassment.

p.p.s.: As someone mentioned earlier, his Miller Lite commercials were better in some ways than his actual broadcasting, especially in the post-2001 seasons…

p.p.s.2: I’m an Analog Kid, and have Never played Madden NFL, so his name being associated with that game means nothing whatsoever to me.

He was a nice person.

I'm likewise not lighting a candle for him, or his 'close personal friend' Ben Dreith.

I was fed up with Patriots-bashing for years BEFORE December 18, 1976. Winning the Super Bowl that season, which I anticipated since two years prior when the Patriots had a legitimate 6-1 start, and then added enough talent through brilliant drafting that after a deceptive 3-11 1975 I flatly stated that if the team stayed healthy, they could beat anyone, was sticking that derision in all their faces, including stupid local media obsessed with crying about the owner and lustily trumpeting that the Patriots did not 'belong' in the local professional sports picture with the exalted Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox. There was much, much more on the line than a simple sports championship.

Rozelle-hating Al Davis led the crybabying which convinced Raiders fans they should have won six Super Bowls already. NBC loved the Raiders as their ratings darlings. No one except Howard Cosell even knew the Patriots were in the playoffs. Then, the next season when Red Miller went to Denver, they were competitive for the first time in their history and national media adopted them as heroes halfway through the season.

The farce in Oakland achieved the opposite: Media used it as more fuel to perpetuate their 'poor, hapless, loser Patriots' diatribe.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Both had 2 Super Bowl appearances, both losses.

10 total postseason appearances for the Pats vs. 8 for the Bengals.

The Patriots had a 0.465 winning percentage versus the Bengals’ 0.435. A difference of 1 extra win every 2 seasons for the Patriots compared to the Bengals.

This is a great comparison, with some important similarities.

Looking a bit deeper can illuminate the difference:

The New England Patriots in their first 41 years from 1960-2000 were indistinguishable from 1968-2008 Cincinnati Bengals, their first 41 years.

The Patriots were an original AFL franchise which was a game or two at the most away from the title game in five out of six seasons. In their first decade, Bengals were competitive in seven of eight seasons. They had Munoz, we had Hannah.

Now, we had a much, much more colorful history with many more star players.

A 10 year stretch of bad play from the mid 60s to mid 70s

Nine, if you stretch it out. 1974 was an excellent team. Second in the NFL in scoring, a touchdown less than the Raiders.

BTW I take Plunkett over Stabler every day especially on Sundays.

The longest losing streak in Patriots history: Seven seasons

a 5 year stretch of horrid play

Doug Flutie says Hi

plus scandal

Please. The Cowboys and Giants, to name two, committed real abuse of legitimate female reporters which are actually documented (if you take the time to dig deep enough). How about the 'drug scandal' initiated when Raymond Berry expressed concern, indicating himself that the Patriots used less than any other team

Indistinguishable from the Bengals 1991 - 2002 horror show

11 losing seasons in 12 years w/one .500

Both with ownership groups known as cheap who had no money who fired coaches over money and control. With the Patriots owner actually going bankrupt not long after putting together a shoddy stadium that couldn’t handle all the toilets flushing. Their next owner put the Patriots at the top of Johnny Carson’s monologues. Mike Brown has been bad, but nowhere near that level.

Yes. The problem is that the players and their on field accomplishments not only have nothing to do with that, but deserve credit for doing so under those circumstances. Many NFL teams including the exalted ones have had players disgrace themselves without the team being criticized at all. Hernandez was this century. Irving Fryar's domestic dispute before the AFCCG is supposed to erase everyone else including his own HOF worthy career?

Media criticism of the Bengals has been spot on. The Patriots are an entirely different story. Mania against the Patriots was out of control by the mid-70's, and is the foundation of the same this century.

Sean Taylor was mourned like a head of state. The Giants honored him when they lost to the Redskins.

Marquise Hill saved a woman's life before losing his own, and his number was on each Patriot's helmet in 2007. And the Giants arrived in Arizona dressed in black for the Patriots' 'funeral'.

The Bengals, along with every other NFL team, have never been subjected to any single attack from the league
deliberately manufacturing an unfair competitive disadvantage. The Patriots have had three - so far

No one outside of Cincinnati views them as anything but the Bungles……. And no one outside of New England viewed us as anything but the Patsies until Belichick and Brady showed up.

Well, a year after they showed up...and cheating allegations were leveled immediately when the Patriots started winning in the 2001 playoffs.

The 'Patsies' media diatribe is bought by a very large contingent right here at home in New England, as well as nationally. Their success was qualified, dismissed, ignored and denigrated and Kraft did nothing but encourage it. He tried to make himself look good; instead he compromised his own accomplishments.

 

[captain stone]

And another thing: Staying by Darryl Stingly’s bedside was THE LEAST he could do, when considering that it was Madden’s own actions / inactions, with the blessing of his owner - If you’re not cheating you’re not trying - as executed by that vile subhuman Tatum that caused the premature death of Stingly in the first place.

I hope that Tatum’s death was slow & painful… See you in Hell, Jackie…

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

And another thing: Staying by Darryl Stingley’s bedside was THE LEAST he could do, when considering that it was Madden’s own actions / inactions, with the blessing of his owner - If you’re not cheating you’re not trying - as executed by that vile subhuman Tatum that caused the premature death of Stingley in the first place.

I hope that Tatum’s death was slow & painful… See you in Hell, Jackie…

Madden compiled the best regular season winning percentage...so let's steal some more Super Bowls and give them to Marty Schottenheimer and Don Coryell...