"He was a great champion for minorities" - Bill Belichick highlights John Madden's greatest impact on NFL

Since news of John Madden's passing broke on Tuesday, many NFL fans, players and coaches have paid their respects to one of the greatest coaches ever to grace the league.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick gave, perhaps, the greatest compliment of them all when he spoke about John Madden's legacy:

"Our condolences to the Madden family. It's a huge loss for the NFL, professional football. John is just a tremendous person to be around. I think we all probably set out to try to have a good professional career, and John had about five of them. He set the standard for coaching in his era, he had the best record, the best teams, championships and all that, the Raiders had a great style of play.

Bill Belichick was one of several guests who appeared in the special All Madden, which aired on Christmas day. The show focused on John Madden's career.

During the show, Belichick's words made it evident that he was awed by Madden's knowledge of the game and his professionalism.

It was very captivatfing and certainly did a lot for the league and the competitiveness of the league. He was a great champion for minorities and minority scouting. Some of the great players they have at the Raiders from the smaller black colleges that he and coach Davis brought into the organization.

The New England Patriots head coach understands how John Madden moved the needle forward by helping minorities succeed and get a fair opportunity in the National Football League.

Belichick concluded with this,

Then he moved to broadcasting and increased the popularity of the game, singlehandedly, quite a bit. I don't know how you'd ever measure that. I think everybody that played football enjoyed John's commentary. A lot of people who probably didn't even care about football found John entertaining and watched football because of him. He brought a lot of people to the game. He brought a perspective to the game that was very unique but loved by all."

It's obvious, from Bill Belichick's words, that he holds John Madden in high regard, not only as a head coach and broadcaster, but also as a pioneer who championed for the inclusion of African Americans in the game from smaller colleges.

John Madden leaves behind a groundbreaking legacy

Las Vegas Raiders Honor Hall of Fame NFL Coach, Broadcaster John Madden

John Madden was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969-1978. During his tenure, his teams went to (and lost) five AFC Championship games in seven seasons.

However, his crowning moment in coaching came as his Raiders won Super Bowl XI over the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 32-14.

Madden's coaching career was followed up by an illustrious 30-year career as a broadcaster for CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX networks. For 22 of those years, he was paired with the legendary Pat Summerall. They were, perhaps, the most impactful broadcasting duo of all-time.

Madden was known for his ability to break down the game of football for the average fan. He was, also, known for his use of the telestrator, which is a tool used to freehand sketch diagrams over moving or still video images.

This was impactful because it allowed the former coach to draw plays and instructions for fans viewing the broadcast.

Despite his legendary career, as both a head coach and a broadcaster, Madden may better known globally for his Madden football video game franchise.

Since its inception back in 1988, the video game has generated over $4 billion dollars in sales. Its impact is far-reaching, with NFL players being chosen each year as the cover athlete for the video game.

John Madden was 85 years old. Our condolences from everyone here at Sportskeeda.