Sports

Thursday, Jul. 02, 2009

Tribune exclusive report: John Madden series — For Madden, it all started at Poly

Teammates recall Madden as an all-star tackle who had great football instincts and as ‘one of the fastest big men’ around

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John Madden was hitching a ride down California’s coast, looking for a place to play football.

About a half-hour north of Cal Poly, though, the Bay Area native almost convinced his friend driving the car to turn around and go right back up Highway 101.

“We got to Paso Robles, and it was about 105 degrees,” Madden says. “I said, ‘This is way too hot! I can’t go here!’ And then the guy with me said, ‘Come on, we came this far. All we have to do is go down the hill.’ “Then, the 105 degrees turned into 90, then 80, then 75,” he continues. “We got down to San Luis Obispo, and it was beautiful. But we damn near turned around. Talk about a fork in the road.”

It would be an understatement of riches to say that Madden, who played for Cal Poly in 1957 and 1958, had a knack for going down fortuitous paths in life. After the 1978 NFL season, he retired from coaching the Oakland Raiders with a Super Bowl XI ring and the best regular-season winning percentage (.759) among NFL coaches with at least 100 wins.

His football legacy was far from over, though.

Over a 30-year, multimillion-dollar career as a color commentator of NFL games, Madden became the only announcer to grace Super Bowls for all four major networks — CBS (which he was with from 1979 to 1993), FOX (1994-2001), ABC (2002-2005) and NBC (2006-2009). And his annual EA Sports video game, “Madden NFL Football,” which debuted in 1989, became the best-selling sports title of all time. He retired from broadcasting April 16 at the age of 73.

It all started at Cal Poly.

“I was looking for a place to play football,” Madden simply says. “And that’s where I wanted to play.”

‘One of the fastest big men’

Pat Lovell and Dick Mannini, two of Madden’s former teammates, still talk about a play Madden made Nov. 9, 1957, as if it happened yesterday. The play took place at Balboa Stadium against the San Diego Marine Corps, which was comprised of mostly older players, several of whom went on to play in the NFL, including safety Al Hall, a Los Angeles Ram from 1961 to 1963.

As the story goes, Hall intercepted a tipped pass — one of six Leathernecks takeaways in a 27-14 win — and took off down his right sideline. But Madden, the Mustangs’ 6-foot-4, 260-pound right tackle, gave chase and caught all the way up to Hall, helping to bring him down just in front of the goal line and prevent what seemed like a sure touchdown.

“John didn’t have a great angle, but he ran him down from behind,” remembers Lovell, who saw the play as a tight end.

“I think that indicated to people the kind of athletic ability he had for a guy his size,” says Mannini, whose view of the moment was slightly different as a fullback.

Although Madden also started as a defensive tackle, he earned All-California Collegiate Athletic Association and UPI Little All-Coast honors offensively.

“He was a very good drive blocker, a good downfield blocker,” Lovell says. “Once he got moving, he could really move.”

Bobby Beathard was the Mustangs’ starting quarterback both years Madden played in San Luis Obispo.

“There weren’t any linemen that could run with John,” says Beathard, who went on to evaluate talent as the general manager of the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers. “He was one of the fastest big men I’d ever been around.”

“Well, one of the things I could do was run,” Madden humbly states.

As nimble as Madden was, though, he was also formidable. Before an annual spring intrasquad scrimmage in 1958, then-head coach Roy Hughes had Beathard and backup signal caller Tom Klosterman draft players one-by-one. After Klosterman won the coin toss for the first pick, he chose Madden.

“Coach said, ‘Why not a wide receiver?’ ” Klosterman says. “I told him, ‘I want someone to protect me.’ ”

A chance with the Eagles

Ironically, it was Klosterman who may have played an unsung role in helping Madden get noticed by pro scouts. Before 1957’s spring game, Klosterman told Madden he’d contacted a Philadelphia Eagles scout through his brother, who recruited for Loyola Marymount.

To provide Madden, one of the team’s most gifted talents, with extra incentive during the largely inconsequential scrimmage, Klosterman lied, telling him the scout would be in the stands that day. After the game, Klosterman confessed to a momentarily furious Madden, but promised to make it up to him by sending the game tape to his brother, who’d then ship it to Philadelphia.

Sure enough, the Eagles chose Madden with the 244th overall pick (in the 21st round) of the 1958 NFL Draft. In those days, the first four rounds were held in December, with rounds five through 30 following in January — meaning Philadelphia indeed selected Madden based on his junior year.

“As big as he was, he could run,” says Carl Bowser, who routinely saw Madden at practice while redshirting as a Mustangs fullback in 1958. “I’m sure that’s why he got his chance with the Eagles.”

During his rookie training camp, though, Madden suffered a knee injury that effectively ended his playing career.

“One of those injuries back then was a career-ender,” Madden says. “These days, a guy would miss a year and then come back.”

Soon after, he returned to California’s Central Coast, where he met his future wife, Virginia Fields, and earned his teaching credential and then a master’s degree in physical education from Cal Poly in 1961. At the time, Madden recalls, the salary he would’ve made with the Eagles (about $7,500) was comparable to teachers’ incomes.

Naturally, though, he’d already become something of an instructor outside of the classroom. Madden had contemplated coaching dating back to his days at the University of Oregon, where he started his college career as a pre-law major.

“After I took some pre-legal classes, I thought, ‘No way,’ ” Madden says. “ ‘I don’t want to be a lawyer; I want to be a coach.’ ”