John Madden, Star of EA’s Madden NFL Series, Has Passed Away At 85

The world was saddened to learn today that legendary American football coach John Madden had passed away at the age of 85. Sports fans will know him best as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978 (winning the Super Bowl in 1976), as well as an influential broadcaster.

But for video game fans he's also known as the moniker of the famous Madden NFL video game series which started as far back as 1988 for the MS-DOS PC's.

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John Madden of American Football and Madden Game Fame Has Passed Away

While most think Madden would probably just sign his name in a contract and agree to be on the cover for a couple of games, the man did actually take action into making sure the games were of some quality, as he felt that they could be a gateway to get gamers into football.

Madden also felt that American football video games had a chance to be a good coaching tool for the sport, even demanding EA to include 11 players per team after finding out that the MS-DOS game was originally only going to have six players per team.

Since the release of John Madden Football on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, the Madden series of video games has grown in popularity, with numerous games for a countless number of systems, from home consoles like the Dreamcast and PlayStation to even handhelds like the Game Boy, there’s no denying that this series has made an impact.

“Nobody loved football more than Coach,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement released earlier today. “He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others.

“There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”