“Don’t worry about the horse being blind…just load the wagon.” John Madden
I’ve been thinking of John Madden a lot recently. Having had the extremely privileged opportunity to work for the iconic coach and broadcaster and the CBS Electronics team during the summer of 1993, it was the ultimate learning experience for me in terms of understanding three things:
- The game of football.
- NFL quality Xs and Os.
- Recognizing the traits that make certain players a cut above most of the others.
Let me take you back to the afternoon in August where I sat in utter awe at John Madden’s kitchen table on one of the upper stories of the Dakota building in New York City overlooking the upper reaches of Central Park.
Topics of discussion:
- Coach’s two rings: his Super Bowl ring on one hand and the 100 in diamonds ring that his lovely wife had custom made for him after he became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win 100 games. John Madden was married to three entities: (a) his wife; (b) the game of football; (c) winning.
- Coach’s philosophy of always installing the most sophisticated new plays during the first couple of days of training camp —- “because I figured those were the days when the players’ minds were the freshest.”
- Coach’s offensive philosophy of attacking the weak side of defenses.
- Coach’s favorite player while coaching the Raiders —- to hear him rave about this player for nearly 20 minutes was one of the most compelling inside look as to the mental and physical fortitude that makes certain players so spectacularly special.
Here are the NFC West players whom I believe John Madden would pick as his favorites:
* HC: Sean McVay, LAR. John Madden was the youngest coach to win 100 games. He was able to accomplish that historic feat in 10 seasons. With 12 wins this season, Sean McVay would have 100 wins in 9 seasons (although * seasons were 14 regular-season games when Madden coached). Madden was 33 when the Raiders shocked the NFL world by promoting him to HC in 1969. McVay was 30 when he was hired by the Rams as the youngest head coach in NFL history.
John Madden’s career record — 10 seasons: 103-32-7 regular season, 9-7 post-season.
Sean McVay’s career record — 8 seasons: 80-52 regular season, 8-5 post-season.
Note: John Madden never had a losing season, and he continues to hold the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who have coached at least 100 games.
* QB: Brock Purdy, SFO. In yesteryears Coach would have picked Matthew Stafford, but Brock Purdy’s rise from pick #262 in the 2022 draft that resulted in him beating out the 49ers prize 2021 #3 pick Trey Lance, for whom the franchise gave up 3 first round picks — is an NFL Cinderella story of epic proportions. Purdy is the classic underdog and Coach sure loved classic underdogs.
Plus, look at how Brock Purdy’s numbers as a starter compare over the past 3 seasons to Matthew Stafford’s and Kyler Murray’s:
Brock Purdy: 36 starts, 23-13 record, 67.5%, 9,518 yards, 64/27 TD/int, 104.9 RTG
Matthew Stafford: 40 starts, 22-18 record, 65.0%, 9,819 yards, 54/27 TD/int, 92.5 RTG
Kyler Murray: 36 starts, 14-22 record, 67.3%, 8,018 yards, 45/23 TD/int, 89.4 RTG
* RB James Conner, ARI. One could easily hear John Madden shouting BOOM, BAM, STIFFARM, BABOOM when providing color for JC’s thunderous runs. By virtue of the fact that it typically takes multiple defenders to take James Conner down, he has All-Madden Team written all over him.
* TE George Kittle, SFO. While Trey McBride may be one season away from taking the top spot, the reason why Coach would still pick Kittle over McBride is that Kittle is not only one of the greatest receiving TEs in NFL history, but he is also still, at 31, one of the league’s most prolific blocking TEs. Coach would love the fact that Geroge Kittle is now 7 TDs behind Dave Casper’s career 52.
* WR Cooper Kupp, SEA. I had the privilege of hearing Coach passionately articulate for 20 minutes as to why, pound-for-pound, WR Fred Biletnikoff was the toughest player he ever coached, both mentally and physically. Like Cooper Kupp did for the Rams in helping them win Super Bowl LVI, Fred Biletnikoff set up the Raiders’ 32-14 Super Bowl XI win over the Vikings with big-time, clutch, chain moving receptions. This was the Raiders’ first ever Super Bowl win. It John Madden’s first and only Super Bowl win as head coach. Fred Biletnikoff was the game MVP.
* T Trent Williams, SFO. Coach would hail Big Trent as “Art Shell with the feet of a leopard.”
* G Dominick Puni, SFO. Coach loves 6’-5” maulers in the run game like what he had in Gene Upshaw. Puni, as a rookie (college convert from tackle to guard), immediately established himself last season as top 10 NFL run blocker.
* C Hjalte Froholdt, ARI. Coach would be apt to describe Hjalte Froholdt as having the mauling tenacity of Jim Otto with the maneuverability of Jason Kelse.
* NT: Dalvin Tomlinson, ARI. Big, strong run stopper who has grown into a pass rushing menace.
* DT: Calais Campbell, ARI. Coach would describe Calais Campbell as a daunting combination of three of his most favorite defensive linemen with the Raiders: Dave Rowe, Otis Sistrunk and Ted Hendricks.
* DE: Nick Bosa, SFO. Nick Bosa’s ability to win off the edge with iron-man strength as well as crafty slipperiness would have Coach Madden’s vote.
* ILB: Fred Warner, SFO. Coach would laud Fred Warner as the epitome of the modern-day, athletic, playmaking inside linebacker.
* CB Garrett Williams, ARI. Thinking about how much Coach Madden loved CB Willie Brown, who iced the Raiders’ Super Bowl win with a pick-6 off Fran Tarkenton, the CB in the NFC West who best manifests Willie Brown’s type of instincts in pass coverage is the Cardinals’ Garrett Williams.
* S: Budda Baker, ARI. While back in Coach Madden’s years with the Raiders, Jack Tatum could lay legal licks on any WR daring to catch a ball over the middle, there is no question that the most intimidating safety in the NFC West today is Budda Baker, who in the blink of an eye, upends ballcarriers from under their knees.
Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
ROTB Winners:
The ROTB winner of tabbing WR Fred Biletnikoff as John Madden’s favorite player is: Blue_Moon_Dude, who wins this Madden t-shirt:
Blue_Moon_Dude also won the most polls matches with 11,. Yet, with your permission Blue Moon, I would like to give the Turducken t-shirt to the runner up, NSCard, who matched 10.
Congratulations to Blue Moon and NSCard. Please email me your t-shirt size and address at waltermitchell@comcast.net
Thanks to all who voted and participated.
Please, in the comment section, feel free to challenge any of my hunches. I had to think long and hard about a number of the choices.
John Madden’s Best Calls (have a look):
John Madden Best Calls (youtube.com)
“Don’t worry about the horse being blind, just load the wagon.”
Thank you for everything you taught us about the game of football, Coach!