Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called John Madden "a true football man" in a tribute post to the Hall of Famer shortly after news of his death Tuesday (December 28) night.
"John Madden was a true football man. RIP, Coach," Tomlin tweeted.
The NFL confirmed Madden's death in an official statement, noting that the legendary coach, commentator and popular video game namesake had died unexpectedly Tuesday morning.
"On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in the statement. "We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.
"Nobody loved football more than Coach. 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."
The NFL confirmed details about a memorial service will be released when available.
Madden led the then-Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl XI victory over the Minnesota Vikings in 1977 and retired in 1978 with a 103-32-7 career coaching record and a 76.3% winning percentage, the highest in NFL history.
The Minnesota native went on to a legendary broadcasting career as the first NFL color analyst to contribute to all four major networks: CBS (1979-93), FOX (1994-2001), ABC (2002-05) and NBC (2006-08), before retiring ahead of the 2008 season.
Madden is also the namesake of EA Sports' popular Madden NFL Football video game franchise, initially lending his voice and likeness to the series in 1988.
Madden was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his coaching career in 2006.