By Bruce MacGowan
By Bruce MacGowan Special to the Examiner “Oakland Raiders’ General Manager Al Davis did something unusual this off season. He handed the reins of his team to a young, obscure Raider assistant coach.33 year old John Madden. A big, affable puppy dog of a man is now the new field boss of the Raiders.” – True Magazine’s football preview magazine of 1969 When you mention John Madden’s name, you usually think of him as that super-enthusiastic TV commentator on the NFL games who could explain the intricacies of football in a clear and concise manner without talking down to the viewers. But many here in the Bay Area remember John Madden, who died Tuesday at age 85, just as much for his brilliant ten-year run as head coach of the Raiders. Much of the Raiders’ legend was built around the teams that Madden coached. “I had the best players and the best owner a coach could hope to get,” he explained to me during an interview many years ago when I was working for a radio network in New York. “But the thing that made it easiest for me was working for one man-Al Davis. Most coaches have to deal with General Managers, club administrators, owners. But I only had to deal with Al Davis. And that guy lived and breathed football.” The Raiders won over 90 percent of their home games at the Oakland Coliseum under Madden’s tenure, while the club had 11 players who later made it to the NFL Hall of Fame.
