Thoughts on the Passing of John Madden

 

I had some thoughts on the passing of John Madden. He was an American icon who made football more fun, a rare announcer that added to the game, at least until his act became more predictable. I’ve waited until now because my thoughts are more of a fantasy featuring John Madden; and though the fantasy is rooted in reality, it is strictly fictional.

I’ll start by acknowledging that as a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, I have complex thoughts about John Madden. Everyone my age remembers Super Bowl XI, where Madden’s Oakland Raiders handed my Minnesota Vikings their fourth Super Bowl loss in an eight-year period. It was devastating for me as a young fan, and worsened by the fact that for the forty some years afterward, the Vikings have usually put competitive teams on the field but have never reached the Super Bowl again.

Madden quit coaching and began broadcasting shortly afterward and joined the broadcast booth, where his love for the game was infectious. Madden was delighted by many things, but there was probably nothing he enjoyed more about football than watching Brett Favre play quarterback.

Again, as a Vikings fan, I have strong feelings about Favre, whose Hall of Fame career was primarily forged as quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings divisional rival. Put simply, I hate Brett Favre. This caused me some mixed feelings in 2009, when Favre joined the Vikings.

The 2009 season was magical. Favre joined a good team and elevated them to a 12-4 record and a crushing playoff defeat of the Dallas Cowboys. All that stood between the Vikings and their fifth Super Bowl appearance was a good New Orleans Saints team in the NFC championship.

That game became known as “Bountygate”, due to the ridiculous post-Watergate practice of adding the suffix “gate” to any scandal description. New Orleans head coach Sean Payton offered cash bonuses to his team to injure key Vikings players, especially the old and injury prone Favre.

The game was a ridiculous cheap shot fest. If you watch a replay of some of the shots Favre took, including helmet on helmet contact and late hits, you would be shocked, compared to the safety conscious treatment quarterbacks receive today. Yet still the Vikings were in a position to win late. Unfortunately, the hobbled and addled Favre made a mistake late, and the Saints won in overtime.

Two weeks later they won the Super Bowl. And this is where my fantasy comes in. The Saints cheated, and it paid off. Could there be an alternate reality where my aggrieved Vikings received justice? This is my scenario?

I still never liked Brett Favre. If he couldn’t lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl victory, he might as well be dead. What if the Saints killed him on the playing field? Reality wasn’t that far off. If that had happened, Favre would have had a funeral. They could have held it on the 50-yard line at the Metrodome. And John Madden would certainly have delivered the eulogy.

Madden would have been masterful, mixing in stories about how Favre loved the game and played it the right way with biblical verses and plenty of the word “BAM!” He would have explained that Favre was a Christ-like figure, giving his life to make our Sundays better. And he would have pleaded for justice for Favre.

Late in his speech, Madden would break down in tears, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would rise. He would approach the podium and set several items on Favre’s casket: a gold jacked and a bronze bust of Favre. His Hall of Fame induction would be fast tracked. But Goodell wouldn’t be finished. The Vince Lombardi trophy would be awarder to the Minnesota Vikings, thanks to the sacrifice of Brett Favre and the eloquence of John Madden.