Madden Retires, Won’t Soon (Ever) Be Replaced
No one does parodies of the unimportant, which is why you do what you think is a pretty decent John Madden impression, and not one of your third cousin who lives on a mink farm in the backwoods of Oregon. That he is so widely parodied by footballistas across the spectrum is testament to his importance and his singularity: he was and is unique, and at his best was a color man who almost singlehandedly invented the job from scratch.
Madden announced his retirement from the booth today, and will leave as both an aficionado of the game and as one of the more innovative color men to work the booth — and I’m not just talking about the telestrator, the electronic stylus allowing the coach to bring a nation into his film room at once. I’m also not just talking about his one man campaign to popularize the Turducken, the Prince of Poultry he awarded to the top player on Thanksgiving.
sportingnews.com
4/16/09
