Time will tell how the football world remembers John Madden, who retired from NBC’s Sunday night NFL broadcast booth Thursday. Hall of Fame coach? TV analyst for four major networks? Namesake of a top-selling sports video game?
The answer for Broncos fans may vary. Madden surely had a heavy hand in a rivalry with the Raiders that persists today.
In 10 years as Oakland’s coach, Madden went 14-6-1 vs. the Broncos, with a 2-0 record in 1976 as Oakland won Super Bowl XI. The next season, Red Miller took over as Broncos coach.
“My first meeting with the team . . . it was about the Oakland Raiders,” Miller said Thursday on 850 KOA radio. The Broncos beat the Raiders in the AFC title game later that season. And after the Broncos topped the Raiders twice in 1978, Madden retired from the sidelines. “He was a heck of a coach,” Miller said.
More on MaddenNick Groke, The Denver Post
