The National Football League announced Tuesday night that John Madden died unexpectedly earlier this morning.
Madden, 85, coached the Oakland Raiders for 10 years from 1969-1978. His teams made the playoffs in eight of those seasons, highlighted by winning Super Bowl XI following a 13-1 season in 1976.
Madden finished his career with a .763 winning percentage, His winning percentage, including playoff games, ranks second in NFL history.
"On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather."
He followed up his coaching career with a stellar broadcasting career spanning four decades: CBS (1979–1993), Fox (1994–2001), ABC (2002–2005), and NBC (2006–2008).
His off-field career was also marked by popular the "Madden" video games series he launched with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) in 1988.
"Nobody loved football more than Coach," Goodell said. "He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today."
Madden’s life and legacy were celebrated in a Dec. 25 documentary called "ALL MADDEN" on FOX Sports.
