Bill Belichick has never met a microphone or recording device that he wasn’t suspicious about. When it comes to the New England Patriots head coach, he’s made an art form out of saying the bare minimum. So when the producers of “All Madden,” a 90-minute special set to premiere on FOX (Christmas Day, 2 p.m. ET), sat down with Belichick before the start of the season, there was a reasonable degree of trepidation. “We just weren’t sure what we were going to get,” co-director Tom Rinaldi told me. “It turned out better than we could have possibly hoped for.” Not only did Belichick open up, offering laughs, smiles, endearing anecdotes and a powerful tribute to John Madden, but he spoke 15 minutes past the allotted time. “That’s what we soon realized,” Rinaldi’s directorial partner Joel Santos added. “When it comes to John Madden, his significance is so strong that people want to talk about him. The story of his life is in many ways the story of modern football.” The iconic coach, broadcaster and video game pioneer has been retired from our TV screens for 13 years now, but his relevance is as strong as ever. After a stellar coaching career, his transition to the booth set the blueprint for what we now consider the right way of doing things in football broadcasting. His encyclopedic knowledge of the game, combined with a ceaseless desire to share that insight to educate the audience established him as the highest-paid broadcaster in sports. Coupled with his turn of phrase and sheer entertainment value, those enthusiastic interjections — “Boom!” — completed the package. Rinaldi and Santos tried to get their interviewees to sum up the Madden experience by giving their own rendition of “Boom.” Madden, 85, meant different things to different generations, but something of significance to everyone. For a rookie Peyton Manning, playing on a struggling Indianapolis Colts squad, taking part in a game for which Madden and Pat Summerall would be the callers was an indicator that his was a team on the rise. “John was the authoritative voice for our sport and in a lot of ways he still is,” FOX analyst and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said. “When John spoke to ‘hey, this guy has a future,’ I think even the critics would have to take heed to that.” Ninety minutes is a worthy length for a sports documentary, but this is John Madden who we’re talking about. “Honestly,” Rinaldi said, “No amount of time was ever going to be enough.” A production team sifted through thousands of hours of archived footage and left some pure gold on the cutting room floor, through necessity. The film contains hilarity and oddity, for there were plenty of times when Madden was pure comedic gold. There is an explanation of the strange origins of the “Turducken,” a composite of three holiday meats, and how it became part of Madden’s NFL telecasts. On a more profound note, the theater in Madden’s California home was used as a way for Rinaldi and Santos to play him some of the clips that others had spoken about him, and therefore capture the accompanying emotion. One thing that prevails is the level of awe across the board, from those of a similar era, those who played during his commentary heyday and more recent players, like Lamar Jackson, starstruck because of the ever-increasing popularity of one of the greatest video game franchises in history. EA Sports’ “Madden” and its place in football’s evolution should not be overlooked. I will always remember how, at a Super Bowl promotional event in 2012, Drew Brees told me how he considered the “Madden” games to be a genuine learning tool for all players, especially QBs. Since then the game has only gotten better, the length of time Madden has been away from our screens has grown longer, and his presence in football has — if that was even possible — increased. The documentary’s segments from Madden and his family are heartwarming and he is the kind of guy who, when he talks, you feel compelled to listen. Just like 2020’s “The Last Dance,” there are moments that serve as a reminder, parts you recalled differently to reality and things you didn’t know happened in the first place. The real story more than any though, is how Madden impacted and affected everyone else, and how he continues to make his mark on football today. Football’s rise to become America’s most prominent sport has been because of the emotions it stirs. Precisely how much Madden — the master of athletic and TV excitement — is responsible for that is something we will never know. All you can be sure of is that “All Madden” captures the rarity of Madden’s character, and the remarkable truth that he’s part of the past, present and the future of the sport. It is hard not to be moved by that, and it’s why legends like Manning, Aikman, Brett Favre, Tom Brady and countless others gave their time, and why Belichick spoke for so long. And why Madden, for the rest of time, will mean more to football and to America than just a name. |
