John Madden offers five decades of reflection on the NFL

By Sam Farmer

May 19, 2009 12 AM PT

John Madden has answered to three names over the course of his five-decade career in the NFL.

To the people who remember him leading the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl victory, he’s Coach. To those who know him best as a broadcaster, he’s John. And to Generation Xbox, he’s Madden.

But who is he now?

Madden, 73, surprised the football world last month when he called it a career, retiring after 30 years in the broadcast booth -- and with three years remaining on his contract with NBC. He said it wasn’t a health decision, or that his passion for the game had diminished at all. He simply said it was time.

In the immediate aftermath, he spoke about his decision on his Bay Area radio show and also to the Contra Costa Times. Other than that, he said, he hasn’t done any interviews since. On Monday, he talked by phone from his Pleasanton office to Times NFL writer Sam Farmer about what he plans to do this season, the effect of Bill Walsh’s death on his decision and whether he plans to return to the NFL in any capacity.

You’ve had three distinct chapters in your NFL life, as a coach, broadcaster and video game personality. Is there a fourth avenue?

You know how people say, “You have to let it come to you”? I think that whatever is going to come up is going to come to me, and it hasn’t yet. People say, “How do you feel now that you’re retired?” Well, I’m really not retired yet because this is my normal off-season right now. When I’m really going to feel the effect of retirement is when August comes and I miss that first game in Canton, [Ohio], and then I miss the preseason games, and then the regular-season games. That’s when retirement starts.

Can you see going to an NFL team?

No. I can’t see going to a team. I have too much respect for the game and where it is today that there’s no way that I’d think I could go to a team, because I wouldn’t want to go full time. There’s no other job in pro football that’s not a full-time job. You’re either in it and you’re playing, or you’re a coach on the sideline watching. There’s no place on a team for someone like me.

How about as a consultant?

A consulting position might work in another profession, but not in pro football. There’s no such thing. They give a guy a parking spot and put his name up as a consultant, and in six months they erase the name. Guys are working 16, 18, 20 hours a day. You can’t come in and say, “When they go to cover 6 on that side, you ought to run a bob trail and then go play-action . . .” They’re not going to listen to that B.S.

How about buying a team?

That used to be fun. Remember back in the day when owners enjoyed it and they had fun with it? I’d go to those owners meetings back when I was coaching, and I’d say, “Someday if I could own a team, I’d love to do that.” But not now. I wouldn’t want to be an owner now.

Around every corner there’s something to do. They need a new collective bargaining agreement. They have to extend the television contract. You need a new stadium. You have to get bonds, you have to win an election. There’s so many things that take you away from football and make you just a businessman in a pretty tough business environment. I don’t know that I want to be a part of that, either.

Legendary San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh did a lot of searching to find his niche after the NFL. Did you ever talk to him about that?

Bill never found it. I was with him the day before he died and we were talking about the old days and decisions he made in his life. He knew he was going to die. And he said at that time that the biggest mistake that he made was retiring after winning the Super Bowl. He said that he was just tired and drained and didn’t give himself enough time. He did it too quickly, and then when he wanted to come back it was too late.

Did you think about that when you retired?

That’s why I did what I did. I said I was going to give myself two months, and after two months I said, “I’m going to get out.” And I was thinking of Bill the whole time. Don’t do it too quickly. Don’t do it on the emotion of a Super Bowl or whatever. Just hold off, and that’s what I did.

Do you see the idea of the Raiders and 49ers coming together to play in one new stadium as an idea that could work?

I think it’s a possibility. But I think in this economic climate, I don’t know how you could get a stadium started. You have to start the whole process now -- who’s going to pay for it, how are you going to pay for it, and then getting the land. It would be a long way off.

What are some of the economic challenges football faces?

Sports has always been a pass-through. You pay for something, and then you pass it through to television, you pass it through to advertisers, or you pass it through to season-ticket holders, luxury boxes and then the fans. Then it all adds up and you take in more than you pass out.

But look at Yankee Stadium. That made sense back when they were building it -- “This is what we have to sell tickets for” -- but then you come here now and, boom, you can’t do it. The pass-throughs are starting to get clogged up.

Will that slow things for Los Angeles?

I see L.A. getting a team the minute they get a stadium. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get two. Sometime there’s going to be two NFL teams in L.A., but I think that first question is the stadium.

What’s the health of the game right now?

I’m not one of those guys that says the game was better in the old days. I believe that the game is great, the players, the skill of the players, the coaching and everything is top-notch. But the health of it, they have some things right around the corner. The collective bargaining agreement and television contracts that have to be extended, selling naming rights, getting sponsors. I’m not sure what the NFL Network is going to do, but I’m sure there will be an adjustment in that business plan. But as far as players, there’s great players in the game and great players coming in.

The health of the NFL is better than any of the other pro sports, but there’s some things coming around the corner that are going to be pretty big things.

The league is considering the possibility of expanding the regular-season schedule to 17 or 18 games. Is that easier said than done?

I think so. I don’t like it. Once they get 17, they’re going to do 18. And anyone that believes that you can trade two preseason games for two regular-season games has never played or coached in those games. You know how they play preseason games, you know what a body goes through. And you know what it goes through in a regular-season game. To say it’s the same, it’s not being fair. I don’t know that the body can hold up to 18 games. I think 16 games is plenty.

Under the current pay structure, some rookies earn more before playing their first NFL snap than a five-time Pro Bowl player makes. Is that a problem?

That has to be fixed. But it’s going to have to be an agreement between the players’ union and the owners. To say that the league wants it or the owners want it is one thing. The players have to want it too. But do the players want to collectively bargain and give that back? Because their salaries are based on that. That was always Gene Upshaw’s thing, that he wasn’t going to give up anything that he gets, and that’s why he was against that.

Do you plan to go to any games this year?

Yes. I’m going to probably go to every Raider home game; I have a suite there. And I’m going to get one of those big set-ups where you can see every game, and I’m going to learn to do that.

I’ve been in a couple of those when I wasn’t working a game, and I saw all the monitors that had all the games. I’d always be watching something way over on the right where they’d be running on first down, and there would be a great touchdown pass over on the left screen. I’ve never learned how to do that, so I’m going to learn that this year.

I’ll have all the monitors, all the games, and then I’m going to watch them all. I don’t think I’ll miss a game.

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