Football fans will have to go without their “booms,” “whaps” and “doinks” on Sunday night. John Madden will not be in the booth for the Seattle at Tampa Bay game, NBC told The Associated Press on Monday.
Madden, 72, travels by bus to all games he covers. Missing the game will keep him from making three consecutive coast-to-coast trips but will end his streak of working 476 consecutive games.
Madden was in Jacksonville, Fla., two Sundays ago, then in San Diego two nights ago. He would have had to return to Florida this Sunday. With no game the following weekend to avoid competing against the World Series, Madden would have then headed to his San Francisco Bay Area home.
NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol first approached Madden in the spring with the suggestion of skipping the trip.
Cris Collinsworth will take Madden’s spot.
Madden fans probably wish NBC could have instead acquired the services of Madden impersonator Frank Caliendo.
