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John Madden: The telestrator, the broadcaster and the Super Bowl champion
#3 - The telestrator
Without John Madden, we would not be watching sports, never mind just the NFL, the way we do nowadays. There was a time when broadcasting meant narration and not analysis. Then came the telestrator, and John Madden was the person to revolutionize it.
The telestrator allowed, for the first time, static lines to be made on a moving video. John Madden, a Super Bowl winning coach, was much better at explaining the concepts on the board than he would ever be elucidating it in words. He chose to use the telestrator liberally and it became the only way to ever present sports.
Today, it is unthinkable for any team sport to not have graphics being overlaid on a moving video. John Madden's legacy here extended even beyond the NFL.
#4 - The broadcasting boom
Before John Madden, broadcasting involved exactitude rather than familiarity. Emphasis was on using the correct words rather than conveying the correct feeling. John Madden started using a language that a layman could understand. A hit was not just another person coming from the other direction and tackling the opposition; it was a 'boom'.
Such catchphrases became commonplace and made football accessible over TV to millions of people. It ensured that people could feel part of the game in a way they had not felt before. That makes John Madden the most influential broadcaster in NFL history. There was a time when, as a broadcaster, John Madden became a cultural phenomenon bigger than any NFL star on the field.
#5 - Super Bowl winner
In the end, all the opportunities he got as a broadcaster or a video game endorser came from his success in the NFL as a winning coach. His win percentage remains the highest amongst all coaches who have coached 10 seasons or more in the NFL. His 0.76 winning percentage trumps the likes of Vince Lombardi and George Allen.
Becoming the youngest coach in the NFL at 32, he spent 10 seasons with the Raiders before retiring due to a burnout caused by the intensity he brought to his coaching.
But the greatest moment, the pinnacle, in his career came when he won a Super Bowl with the team. It cemented his legacy as a winning coach, and this identification would later open opportunities for him in the broadcasting field. Ultimately, all the moments that followed, perhaps stemmed from this moment.
