January 7, 2022 • 31 mins
Ben and his 5th Hour partner Danny G. are back from the holiday break and get a chance to honor the legendary John Madden, with stories and a piece of his Hall of Fame speech! Plus, they talk Betty White and outliving your friends and family members.
Make sure to subscribe, rate, and post a review on iTunes whenever you get the chance.
Engage with the podcast by emailing us at RealFifthHour@gmail.com ...
Follow Ben on Twitter @BenMaller and on Instagram @BenMallerOnFOX ...
Danny is on Twitter @DannyGRadio and on Instagram @DannyGRadio
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Boom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:25):
Maller starts right now in the air everywhere, even with
a messed up voice, we are back at it on
another new year of the Fifth Hour. I think this
is the third or the fourth year of the Fifth Hour,
(00:46):
but the first full year with Danny g Radio, because
four hours a night, five days a week or not
enough on the overnight show. And we're back in the
Mallard podcast studio. Amazing, amazing, another year upon us. Amazing. Man, Man,
I'm gonna have to carry you the way Matt Stafford
(01:09):
has been carrying the Rams well unless you well, and
he had the game winning drive day, how dare you
had the game winning drive against the Ravens And I'll
just jump on your back and I will carey. I
know you're very nervous because the Raiders have a playoff
game on Sunday, night. I know you're very concerned about that,
(01:30):
because you know, the Raiders are the kind of team
that will go on a run and win the Super
Bowl unless they're not. Yeah. Well, it's it's been quite
a ride the past few weeks because ever since that
COVID game in Cleveland, it seems like they've been playing
a playoff game every single week. I'm now, what one, two, three,
(01:50):
this is gonna be the fourth Raiders playoff game. Yeah, well,
and that would be the first if if they actually
make the playoffs. Derek Carr, who will who will end
one of the great streaks of utility having never started
a playoff game exactly. He should have started that game
in Texas in but of course that's the famous year
(02:13):
It's broke, It's broke, Well that was that was one
of the worst playoff games of all time, dude, because
we had what was the quarterback's name, Ben oh Well,
I remember that the Texans played that tall guy brock Oswi. Yeah,
with con was a Cook, Connor Cook, the third string
(02:33):
His name popped up he had That game against the
Texans for Connor Cook was one of the five worst
games ever ever for an NFL quarterback. I mean, they
brought it up because Ben Roethlisberger in the Monday night
game was horrific and it's I'm still annoyed by the
(02:56):
media coverage on ESPN. He was going out and puking
on the field, and they didn't want to mention it.
They didn't want to bring it up because it was
supposed to be his night. But it was like, my god,
it was one of the worst games I've ever seen,
tearing at the end. All that matters is the w Yeah, exactly, exactly. Well, no, no,
that's not all that matters. There's there's more that matters.
(03:18):
There's a few things that matter. But it was like
it was just total there's crickets, NonStop crickets, and it
was like, come on, please shut play, and they wouldn't
shut up, not they just kept going on and on,
and it was just like Ben Roethlisberger. Look, he walked
off the field. Ben Roethlisberger went in the locker room. Oh,
(03:42):
I think he sat on the bench on one of
those heaters in that nice Oh, it's so wonderful, it's
so wait a minute, Ben just took a dump at halftime.
I know. That's very very impressive, very very impresient anyway,
So I thought on this. I was away for for
a little while and John Madden passed away, and if
(04:03):
I had been at my catbird Seed, I would have
done a proper tribute. I would have done a monologue.
I would have done you know. You know, we did
the six lines, and uh, I couldn't do any of
that because I was away. And I feel like when
you when you come back, you know, you want to
start fresh, and so I didn't get a chance to
(04:25):
do it. So I wanted to. I'm sure you have
some John Madden story. A raider guy. I'm not a
raider guy. I know Madden was before your time, but
you you grew up in Northern California and Madden has
been a staple of Northern California and all that. So
I I only have one vague passing reference where I
(04:50):
was in the same presence of of John Madden. And
and then I thought we'd place some of his Hall
of Fame speech because I thought that really sums up
the essay of John Mann. Plus I wanted to hear
it again, so you know, why not? Right, that's perfect?
And now, did you have any run ins with John Madden?
I met him briefly. It was years ago when I
(05:13):
was working in Northern California and I got to take
part in a Raiders Raider at event in Alameda, Raider
at Yats and they had some Raider legends involved at
the Raider facility and John Madden showed up. He was
bigger than any of the other legends, because the dude
(05:36):
was bigger than life. I got to shake his hand
very briefly. He was very nice to everybody. But it's
not like I got to sit down and talk to
the guy. But man, just the presents like you felt
him walk into the room. And I know we've heard
so many stories over the past couple of weeks, but
(05:56):
it is true. When everybody kept saying he was larger
than life and humble, I just can't say it any
better than that. Yeah, and I never got the chance
to to meet Madden. I met most of the people
that I kind of grew up in idolized, with very
few exceptions, but Madden is on that list. When I
was a kid, my dad took me to a ram
(06:19):
Fort game and it was at the Big A and
the Madden Cruiser was was parked out in front, and
this is like a big deal. Uh. I mean because
I remember hearing about the Madden Cruise the days before
social media, and I've never seen really a photo of it.
And uh, you know, eventually Madden at down the line.
(06:44):
It was like a moving billboard. They had like corporate
sponsors for the Madden Cruiser and they put big logo
for out Back Steakhouse on it. But but it's actually
before those days, and I remember being a kid. I'm
such a nerd. I'm at the Big a I'm gonna
Ram game, you know, a long time ago. The Niners
are still the dynasty of the NFL, and the Rams
(07:08):
where their arrival. But they rarely beat them. They've usually
beat them. They beat them in in Candlestick. They did
better in Candlestick than they did at the Big But anyway,
I at the game, and I still remember I have
vague memories of the game, but I remember the Madden Cruiser.
Seeing it in the parking lot, I was like, Wow,
(07:28):
this is the great John Madden. And as a kid,
was like, oh my god, John Matt. Everything this guy
said and it was just like John Matt, I mean,
come on, and it was it was a big to
do and all that, so I remember that, And unfortunately,
when I got in the media business, I only covered
(07:50):
a few NFL games in San Diego when I was
working down there with the Chargers, and then I had
a hook up for while. I had a hook up
where I could go to any Charger game I wanted,
but Madden rarely did the Chargers and uh. And then
I remember when the Raiders moved back to Oakland. I
(08:13):
went and covered a game, but the Raiders game or two,
but the Raiders weren't very good, and he wasn't doing
Oakland Raider games, so I never and the NFL was
gone for the first twenty years. By the time the
NFL came back, Madden was no longer broadcast, so that
was it. You know. Watching the documentary, one of the
(08:35):
many things that stood out was how he basically started
NFL on Fox pretty they were able to talk him
into it, and then everybody followed him over to Fox.
You know, they were known for what married with children
and the Simpsons, and then suddenly he gave them instant credibility. Yeah.
(08:57):
And when Madden answers the falle that's and he actually
takes the call from from Fox. I mean that that
was huge because I remember in those days, Fox was
the outsider. It was ABC, CBS, NBC some combination of that.
And then nobody even considered Fox legitimate and uh yeah,
(09:18):
and people were goofing on them when they got the
NFL deal. They're like, yo, this is not gonna last.
Nobody's gonna watch the NFL on Fox and what is
and and and all the remember they had the robot
thing that they tossed out there and which they still
have by the way. Um and yeah, Madden was was huge,
and remember him in pat Some are all uh and
(09:40):
it was like the perfect combination because Madden wouldn't shut
up and some are all rarely said anything, so it
was like it was perfect where Madden would say, handoff Emmett,
touchdown Cowboys, you know, it would be like a seventy
yard run and yeah, exactly. And then but the rest
of the time was just John Madden waxing poetic. And
(10:03):
I went back, I don't know if you fell in
this rabbit hole when Madden passed away. I went back
on the YouTube and I fell down a rabbit hole
and people were like, what are you doing? What are
you doing? Swamp? It was the YouTube swamp. Actually, I
was like, I wasn't there, and uh, but I watched
(10:26):
like a thirty minute clip. It was. It was all
highlights of John Madden, and like some of the stuff
I remembered, a lot of it I didn't remember. And
then I watched another one, and then another one popped
up and I ended up. I probably spent I had
nothing else to do because I've been sick, but I
probably spent two hours watching John Madden highlights and I
(10:52):
loved every second of it. That was great. Did you
see the clip where it was Madden's very first time
on camera with Pat summer All? I saw the one
he was he originally were with Costas. There was a
clip I saw with Costas. I didn't see the first
Summer All one. I saw the one where he there
(11:12):
was a pigeon at RFK Stadium in Washington and he
did like to play by play and and that whole thing.
But there were so many amazing, amazing calls and uh.
And that's the other thing about Madden, like everywhere he went.
You know remember that that the book you know, how
to Win friends and Influence people? That was Maddie, right.
(11:36):
He loved everybody and he remembered he took time out
of his schedule to ask questions and get to know people.
And that's the kind of stuff people will remember. You know,
they're not gonna remember all the xs and ohs and
all the other nonsense, but that's the kind of stuff
that actually touches people's lives where they're like, wow, that's
a big deal. I spent half of my childhood in
(11:58):
southern California and the other half in northern California. And
as loved as Madden was worldwide, he got even more
love in the Bay Area because obviously that's where he
hailed from. Um, he lived in Pleasanton, and he was
he was also attached to Daily City. And so where's
(12:20):
where is Pleasanton? For those for those that haven't been,
I've been to the Bay Area, But for those outside, like,
where is that close to? Because that's not that well
known past Livermore on your way to San Jose. On
the way you got to know the way to San Jose. Yeah,
right before Fremont is Pleasanton and it's it is very beautiful,
(12:42):
well before the drought, green rolling hill and uh and
very beautiful homes up in the hills. I could see
why he chose that part of the Bay Area to live. Um.
But yeah, you would hear lots of stories about him
there in the Bay Area, and he would hop on
some Bay Area radio stations from time to time. So
(13:02):
as a kid, I remember hearing him on local radio
stations in the Bay doing Collins. Yeah. I think he
did that even up until a year ago or so.
I think he was still calling in, like on the
news station to give an NFL update or something like that.
You might remember there were some stations who carried the
Madden Minute. Yeah, I do remember that, a syndicated John
(13:25):
Madden radio vignette. Did they do those still those radio
vignettes or is that like a stone age? I remember
Bob Costas did it, uh? I Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey.
I worked with a guy that replaced Howard Cosell. He
did a like a little three minute speaking of sport,
(13:46):
Howard coast Sell, the old you know, nineteen seventies, sixties broadcaster.
I don't. I don't think they do that though, do they? Well?
I know Dan Patrick does one. Really, Yeah, I'm not.
I'm not sure about anybody else in the sports world.
It's a good point though, Yeah, it's kind of a
lost art, but it was a cool touch on radio
(14:07):
stations when we were a kid, because it was something like,
I remember our AM radio stations would all carry the
Paul Harvey syndication. Oh well, Paul Harvey was huge. Yeah,
that was the most listened to guy in radio. So
even if they didn't have Paul Harvey on their station,
they could still have a touch of his personality by
(14:28):
carrying his little syndicated clips. And now you're going to
know the rest of the story. Paul Harvey, good Day's
got a sound like him with my voice all oh man.
The other thing about Madden, I know, the sort of
Tommy lived in the same house in Fullerton that he
(14:51):
bought when he originally became, you know, somewhat well known
with the Dodgers. He bought a home in the Fullerton
area in Orange County, and I believe he lived there
the same house until he died. I wondered, Madden made
a lot of money, like a ton of money doing TV.
I did he did he live in the same house?
(15:12):
You know, if he moved around or lived in the
same basic house that he bought when he first became
with the Raiders back in the day. That's a good question.
I'm not sure about that. Yeah, I mean I bet
he probably did. Madden seems like the kind of guy
that will be like, all right, I like this area,
I like this house. I got two kids, and the
(15:35):
house is big enough, so I'm not gonna move around.
And plus the fact that John Madden was able to
pull off not flying and and reached the very top broadcasting.
And you know, Dan and I I've obviously experienced this.
(15:56):
If if you're not at a certain level, they will
not do anything for you. Uh, in terms of bending
over travel wise, that mean it's just no, you're gonna fly,
You're gonna stay at this hotel, You're gonna do this,
that and the other thing. And that's just the way
it is, and that's the way it's gonna be. And
(16:18):
and Madden was such a great order of the NFL.
They were like, wow, it's John Maddie. All right, well
look the other one. This is John Maddie. And uh,
it's crazy, crazy that he was able to do that.
And and then that became his thing. As I talked about,
I was a kid and I still remember seeing the
(16:39):
Madden Cruiser. That is dope. And you think you see
the very first broadcaster who got um multimillionaire contract with
every single thing he wanted. That's a good question. I
he was the highest paid NFL broadcaster. But and really
the Fox el cemented that cemented that because Fox paid
(17:03):
him like whatevery, they basically gave him a blank check,
and because they were so desperate to get John Madden.
Otherwise that would have sullied the uh the deal they
got when they got the CBS contract. But um, I'm
too young for Howard Cosell was he I'm sure he
got paid a lot. Did he have the kind of
(17:24):
pull that Madden had? I know a little bit about Cosell.
He was before my time, But I he was not
the highest paid guy. But the salaries aren't anything like
a Madden made more than Cosell. Yeah, I mean, and
now it's just you know, cuckoo for cocoa puffs with
Tony Romo and all these guys are making like eighteen
(17:44):
million dollars a million dollars a game, basically insane and
that nuts crazy nuts were the other duos that come
to mind. They're Madden and Pat Summer. All they were
a soundtrack in a lot of ways. Especially being in
the in Northern California for a while as kid, because
they called a ton of forty games and a ton
(18:07):
of Cowboy games. Obviously, um they were the a team
they had the game of the Week for for Fox.
But also I guess as a little kid, the other
duos that come to mind for me would be like
dick Enberg and Dan Fouts. Um, you know. I it
got me thinking of some of the best duos in
(18:27):
the booth that we grew up with. Yeah, dick Enberg, Yeah,
very nice guy. I met dick Enburg at a Padre
Dodger game. He was getting soft served that's a plumb
pussy right the press box, and he was very very polite.
But Enburg remember I like more of the obscure broadcasters
(18:49):
because I remember Charlie Jones from Oh Yeah Yeah, Um
Don Crickey who always did really shitty games, as I remember,
but it was it was something about Don Crickey hit
this very distinctive delivery. Yeah, and I used to mimic
it when I was a kid because I'm a nerd
(19:11):
and I remember Don Cricky doing those games. I'm trying
to think of some of the other the well. Hank
stram On radio. He did radio, he did TV also,
Hank Stram, like Monday Night with Joe Buck. They were
pretty good back in the day. I'm trying to think
it's funny that we both brought up dick Enberg because
(19:34):
he is one of the voices where no matter what
game he was calling, it sounded more important because he
was on the call. He could yeah, yeah, he could
make a twenty yard completion sound like a world championship.
It's guys, like I guess NBA version would be Marv
Albert a big three pointer. Uh, you know, he could
(19:57):
make a game sounds so much more important and then
maybe it was. And I think about like al Michaels
to me is like the one of the last guys.
You hear al Michaels do the open, It's like a
big deal. But I think that's because we grew up
with those guys. I wonder like if the kids today
are they gonna have that same experience when Joe Buck
(20:19):
does a game, is it Is it the same experience
as Jack You know, I I reminisced about Jack Buck
back in the day, one of the guys I looked
up to. But but Joe Buck, I mean, he's been
around for our Jim Nance at at CBS. I mean,
these are the these are the guys that people have
(20:40):
grown up with and how many more years are they
gonna be doing it? Yeah? And you know, so much
of the talk about the kids nowadays, they obviously just
know John Madden from the video game. They were not
really aware of him as a broadcaster, and certainly we're
not aware of him as a head coach in the NFL.
(21:02):
And even a lot of adults were like, wow, I
had no idea he had a winning percentage like that
and dominated the uh, the division he was in for
so many years. That was kind of nice to go
down Raiders memory Lane with all those famous games. Games
he coached were so famous they have names for the
(21:23):
games like the Sea of Hands and uh Ghost to
the Post and all those kind of games, the Holy Roller,
Immaculate Reception and all. You know, that's pretty cool because
besides Tuck Rule, how many games from the past thirty
years do we have like a name for the game
(21:43):
that we refer to. Yeah, and part of that is
also the era, right, I mean they don't. They don't
do that anymore. Yeah, I don't. I don't think so,
because yeah, you're right. It was very much NFL films.
And you know, we watched the NFL in a in
a different way than we do out. Yeah. Now it's
like you you're soaking in for maybe forty eight hours,
(22:07):
and then you're onto the next game. Right, It's like
that game has died, moving on. It's like playing Donkey
Kong the next game. You forget about the old game.
And uh uh yeah, I mean it was. It was
much different, and it's all social media and consuming stuff obviously,
all right, So I wanted to hear a little bit
of John Madden. He gave one of the great Hall
(22:29):
of Fame speeches. So I'm not sure how much of
this we're gonna play, Danny, but and and we'll react.
I can pause this and and we can play it
and react to it. We'll see how this works. But
this is way back in twenty oh six, John Madden.
We're not gonna play the full speech, but is Pro
Football Hall of Fame in Triman ceremony. So just imagine
(22:51):
a sunny day Canton, Ohio. Al Davis had introduced John Madden.
So I was still around, and uh, here is some
of what madness. He thanked everyone I'm not gonna play
that part. He started out thinking everyone like the people
that live in cant Ohio, like everyone. Uh, And then
he went into something he experienced at the Hall of Fame,
(23:13):
and this this is I thought. The first a few
minutes was pretty good, you know. I was. I was
reading the the NFL stats in history book. And and
that's what when you you do when you write a
bus when you don't fly, you read, you know, big, big,
old thick books like that. But they had a chapter
on history and the first page and the chapter of
(23:37):
history was a list of the Hall of Famers. And
I said, that's right, they got it. That is our history.
The players that played before us, the players that played
when they didn't have face masks, when they had leather helmets,
when got this thing started. The players that played in
smaller stadiums, you know, didn't have the medical thing, didn't
have anything. They laid the foundation for this great game
(24:01):
and we should never forget it. I say the NFL
teams that you want to honor your history more. Sometimes
we tend to get caught up in the players and
the games. Now honor your history, bing bring back the
Hall of Famers, Bring back their teammates. Let the fans
show their appreciation to the history, because I know that,
(24:24):
you know, going in with these guys is is so special,
and you know, we'll always talk about immortality, all right.
And this next part, this is the classic John Madden
about what happens at night He took a page. Remember
that movie Night at the Museum. Yeah, Robin Williams back
(24:47):
in the day. Well, John Madden must have seen that
movie because his next this next part of the rand,
this was I would say this is the signature part
of John Madden Hall of Fame. In frame speech, some
some of us think maybe we will be immortal, that
will live forever, but when you really think about it,
(25:10):
we're not going to be. But I say this, and
this is overwhelming whelming and mind blowing that through this
bust with these guys in that hall, we will be forever.
And you know, when you think of that, it just
blows your mind that it's forever and ever and ever.
(25:31):
And you have to stay with me a moment on
this one. This is a little goofy here, and you're
gonna say, oh, there's old Matt and being being goofy again.
But I started thinking about this after I got voted
in the Hall of Fame. And the more I think
about it, the more I think it's true. And now
I know it's true, and I believe it. Here's the
deal I think over in the Hall of Fame. During
(25:54):
the day, the people go through and they look at everything,
and then at night to the time when they all leave,
and all the fans and all the visitors leave the
Hall of Fame, then there's just the workers. And the
workers start to leave, and then it can center is
just one person. That person turns out the light, locks
(26:16):
the door. I believe that the busts talk to each other,
and I can't wait for that conversation. I really can't.
The Vincla Marts do rock me? To you, to Reggie,
to Walter Payton, to the to the guys that you
want to say? What to all my players, Max players? Yeah,
(26:37):
we will will be there forever and ever and ever
talking about whatever, and and that's that's what I believe,
and that's what I think is gonna happen. And no
one's ever gonna talk to me out of that. Well.
They have you ever been to the Pro Football Hall
of Fame? No, it's on the bucket list. I would
(26:58):
love to go there. It's funny he was talking about
the bust in all of them there at Canton, because
that was really my only complaint. As I look at
his I don't think they did a very good job
on his bronze statue. The likeness. You don't think that
looks like John Madden. It's like it's a younger John
(27:19):
mad I guess so I think that's I think that's
Madden when he was coaching. Yeah, it's not. You're right, though,
we don't know John Madden like that. We know the
old John Madden. We know the old, fun loving broadcasters.
We don't know the young uh, you know, up and
coming coach John Madden. That guy's foreign to us like that,
(27:40):
Who the hell's that guy? Exactly? He's one of the guys,
just like Betty White, who we talked about before the
holiday where you know you killed her by the way,
congratulations Betty White. You were magazine. You were responsible for
the demise of Betty White. How dare that was the
That was the People magazine cover curse that killed her? Um,
(28:04):
but we only knew her as an old person. I
mean she was old on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The same with John Madden. When I was a little kid,
he was already old as a broadcaster. So you're right,
I never saw him as a young person on television. Yeah,
well I did see. I was watching small game shows
(28:25):
because I'm a loser, and they put some old uh
what was it the and there's old celebrity game shows
where they have you know, celebrity panel and you can
pick the celebrity and the answer of the question. And
so Betty White was on that and that's why they
replayed them. And I looked at the other celebrities, and
(28:45):
everyone else had died at least forty years ago. She
outlived everybody. And these people were her contemporaries, and you know,
they were dropped it in the in the or the eighties,
you know. And sah, her husband was a famous host
of one of those games show, Alan Lundon, Right, is
(29:08):
that the is that Lundon or something like that? Is
that the one? I know? It was Alan? Uh? He
died in and you can see here she talked about
how she couldn't wait to be with him again. Uh
when she finally passed on. Yeah. So, and there was
a report that came out a few days ago saying
that that was her last word his name. Really, yeah,
(29:32):
because she wanted to go join him. Uh. But when
I was reading that he passed away in nineteen eighty one,
I was like, holy sh it, what a long time
to long for your partner. Yeah. In a way, it's
like that movie The Green Mile where um Tom Hank's
character got a little touch of everlasting life and lived
(29:52):
past everybody. His family all passed on and he was
still alive. Yeah, it is a it's a weird thing.
You want to live as long as you can. But
then at some point, and we've talked about this before,
like a big part of life is your friends and
your you know, your social network and your your family.
And if if you're alive and you outlive everyone, God,
(30:15):
that's gonna be awkward, right, I mean, that's it's a
blessing and a curse. It's at the same time, it
really is. Anyway, we gotta get out of here, Danny,
But we will be back with a brand new Saturday podcast,
a never before told story. I will debut I did
(30:36):
not speak about this on radio. I did not tweet
about this. I did not do I'll explain why I
didn't do that stuff. But I'll get into all of
that a never before told story on the Saturday podcast.
If you're a fan of The Mallard Show on the Overnight,
you're not gonna want to miss it. But anyway, thank you,
Danny appreciate that, and we will catch you next time.
(31:00):
See Yes, Saturday
Boom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:25):
Maller starts right now in the air everywhere, even with
a messed up voice, we are back at it on
another new year of the Fifth Hour. I think this
is the third or the fourth year of the Fifth Hour,
(00:46):
but the first full year with Danny g Radio, because
four hours a night, five days a week or not
enough on the overnight show. And we're back in the
Mallard podcast studio. Amazing, amazing, another year upon us. Amazing. Man, Man,
I'm gonna have to carry you the way Matt Stafford
(01:09):
has been carrying the Rams well unless you well, and
he had the game winning drive day, how dare you
had the game winning drive against the Ravens And I'll
just jump on your back and I will carey. I
know you're very nervous because the Raiders have a playoff
game on Sunday, night. I know you're very concerned about that,
(01:30):
because you know, the Raiders are the kind of team
that will go on a run and win the Super
Bowl unless they're not. Yeah. Well, it's it's been quite
a ride the past few weeks because ever since that
COVID game in Cleveland, it seems like they've been playing
a playoff game every single week. I'm now, what one, two, three,
(01:50):
this is gonna be the fourth Raiders playoff game. Yeah, well,
and that would be the first if if they actually
make the playoffs. Derek Carr, who will who will end
one of the great streaks of utility having never started
a playoff game exactly. He should have started that game
in Texas in but of course that's the famous year
(02:13):
It's broke, It's broke, Well that was that was one
of the worst playoff games of all time, dude, because
we had what was the quarterback's name, Ben oh Well,
I remember that the Texans played that tall guy brock Oswi. Yeah,
with con was a Cook, Connor Cook, the third string
(02:33):
His name popped up he had That game against the
Texans for Connor Cook was one of the five worst
games ever ever for an NFL quarterback. I mean, they
brought it up because Ben Roethlisberger in the Monday night
game was horrific and it's I'm still annoyed by the
(02:56):
media coverage on ESPN. He was going out and puking
on the field, and they didn't want to mention it.
They didn't want to bring it up because it was
supposed to be his night. But it was like, my god,
it was one of the worst games I've ever seen,
tearing at the end. All that matters is the w Yeah, exactly, exactly. Well, no, no,
that's not all that matters. There's there's more that matters.
(03:18):
There's a few things that matter. But it was like
it was just total there's crickets, NonStop crickets, and it
was like, come on, please shut play, and they wouldn't
shut up, not they just kept going on and on,
and it was just like Ben Roethlisberger. Look, he walked
off the field. Ben Roethlisberger went in the locker room. Oh,
(03:42):
I think he sat on the bench on one of
those heaters in that nice Oh, it's so wonderful, it's
so wait a minute, Ben just took a dump at halftime.
I know. That's very very impressive, very very impresient anyway,
So I thought on this. I was away for for
a little while and John Madden passed away, and if
(04:03):
I had been at my catbird Seed, I would have
done a proper tribute. I would have done a monologue.
I would have done you know. You know, we did
the six lines, and uh, I couldn't do any of
that because I was away. And I feel like when
you when you come back, you know, you want to
start fresh, and so I didn't get a chance to
(04:25):
do it. So I wanted to. I'm sure you have
some John Madden story. A raider guy. I'm not a
raider guy. I know Madden was before your time, but
you you grew up in Northern California and Madden has
been a staple of Northern California and all that. So
I I only have one vague passing reference where I
(04:50):
was in the same presence of of John Madden. And
and then I thought we'd place some of his Hall
of Fame speech because I thought that really sums up
the essay of John Mann. Plus I wanted to hear
it again, so you know, why not? Right, that's perfect?
And now, did you have any run ins with John Madden?
I met him briefly. It was years ago when I
(05:13):
was working in Northern California and I got to take
part in a Raiders Raider at event in Alameda, Raider
at Yats and they had some Raider legends involved at
the Raider facility and John Madden showed up. He was
bigger than any of the other legends, because the dude
(05:36):
was bigger than life. I got to shake his hand
very briefly. He was very nice to everybody. But it's
not like I got to sit down and talk to
the guy. But man, just the presents like you felt
him walk into the room. And I know we've heard
so many stories over the past couple of weeks, but
(05:56):
it is true. When everybody kept saying he was larger
than life and humble, I just can't say it any
better than that. Yeah, and I never got the chance
to to meet Madden. I met most of the people
that I kind of grew up in idolized, with very
few exceptions, but Madden is on that list. When I
was a kid, my dad took me to a ram
(06:19):
Fort game and it was at the Big A and
the Madden Cruiser was was parked out in front, and
this is like a big deal. Uh. I mean because
I remember hearing about the Madden Cruise the days before
social media, and I've never seen really a photo of it.
And uh, you know, eventually Madden at down the line.
(06:44):
It was like a moving billboard. They had like corporate
sponsors for the Madden Cruiser and they put big logo
for out Back Steakhouse on it. But but it's actually
before those days, and I remember being a kid. I'm
such a nerd. I'm at the Big a I'm gonna
Ram game, you know, a long time ago. The Niners
are still the dynasty of the NFL, and the Rams
(07:08):
where their arrival. But they rarely beat them. They've usually
beat them. They beat them in in Candlestick. They did
better in Candlestick than they did at the Big But anyway,
I at the game, and I still remember I have
vague memories of the game, but I remember the Madden Cruiser.
Seeing it in the parking lot, I was like, Wow,
(07:28):
this is the great John Madden. And as a kid,
was like, oh my god, John Matt. Everything this guy
said and it was just like John Matt, I mean,
come on, and it was it was a big to
do and all that, so I remember that, And unfortunately,
when I got in the media business, I only covered
(07:50):
a few NFL games in San Diego when I was
working down there with the Chargers, and then I had
a hook up for while. I had a hook up
where I could go to any Charger game I wanted,
but Madden rarely did the Chargers and uh. And then
I remember when the Raiders moved back to Oakland. I
(08:13):
went and covered a game, but the Raiders game or two,
but the Raiders weren't very good, and he wasn't doing
Oakland Raider games, so I never and the NFL was
gone for the first twenty years. By the time the
NFL came back, Madden was no longer broadcast, so that
was it. You know. Watching the documentary, one of the
(08:35):
many things that stood out was how he basically started
NFL on Fox pretty they were able to talk him
into it, and then everybody followed him over to Fox.
You know, they were known for what married with children
and the Simpsons, and then suddenly he gave them instant credibility. Yeah.
(08:57):
And when Madden answers the falle that's and he actually
takes the call from from Fox. I mean that that
was huge because I remember in those days, Fox was
the outsider. It was ABC, CBS, NBC some combination of that.
And then nobody even considered Fox legitimate and uh yeah,
(09:18):
and people were goofing on them when they got the
NFL deal. They're like, yo, this is not gonna last.
Nobody's gonna watch the NFL on Fox and what is
and and and all the remember they had the robot
thing that they tossed out there and which they still
have by the way. Um and yeah, Madden was was huge,
and remember him in pat Some are all uh and
(09:40):
it was like the perfect combination because Madden wouldn't shut
up and some are all rarely said anything, so it
was like it was perfect where Madden would say, handoff Emmett,
touchdown Cowboys, you know, it would be like a seventy
yard run and yeah, exactly. And then but the rest
of the time was just John Madden waxing poetic. And
(10:03):
I went back, I don't know if you fell in
this rabbit hole when Madden passed away. I went back
on the YouTube and I fell down a rabbit hole
and people were like, what are you doing? What are
you doing? Swamp? It was the YouTube swamp. Actually, I
was like, I wasn't there, and uh, but I watched
(10:26):
like a thirty minute clip. It was. It was all
highlights of John Madden, and like some of the stuff
I remembered, a lot of it I didn't remember. And
then I watched another one, and then another one popped
up and I ended up. I probably spent I had
nothing else to do because I've been sick, but I
probably spent two hours watching John Madden highlights and I
(10:52):
loved every second of it. That was great. Did you
see the clip where it was Madden's very first time
on camera with Pat summer All? I saw the one
he was he originally were with Costas. There was a
clip I saw with Costas. I didn't see the first
Summer All one. I saw the one where he there
(11:12):
was a pigeon at RFK Stadium in Washington and he
did like to play by play and and that whole thing.
But there were so many amazing, amazing calls and uh.
And that's the other thing about Madden, like everywhere he went.
You know remember that that the book you know, how
to Win friends and Influence people? That was Maddie, right.
(11:36):
He loved everybody and he remembered he took time out
of his schedule to ask questions and get to know people.
And that's the kind of stuff people will remember. You know,
they're not gonna remember all the xs and ohs and
all the other nonsense, but that's the kind of stuff
that actually touches people's lives where they're like, wow, that's
a big deal. I spent half of my childhood in
(11:58):
southern California and the other half in northern California. And
as loved as Madden was worldwide, he got even more
love in the Bay Area because obviously that's where he
hailed from. Um, he lived in Pleasanton, and he was
he was also attached to Daily City. And so where's
(12:20):
where is Pleasanton? For those for those that haven't been,
I've been to the Bay Area, But for those outside, like,
where is that close to? Because that's not that well
known past Livermore on your way to San Jose. On
the way you got to know the way to San Jose. Yeah,
right before Fremont is Pleasanton and it's it is very beautiful,
(12:42):
well before the drought, green rolling hill and uh and
very beautiful homes up in the hills. I could see
why he chose that part of the Bay Area to live. Um.
But yeah, you would hear lots of stories about him
there in the Bay Area, and he would hop on
some Bay Area radio stations from time to time. So
(13:02):
as a kid, I remember hearing him on local radio
stations in the Bay doing Collins. Yeah. I think he
did that even up until a year ago or so.
I think he was still calling in, like on the
news station to give an NFL update or something like that.
You might remember there were some stations who carried the
Madden Minute. Yeah, I do remember that, a syndicated John
(13:25):
Madden radio vignette. Did they do those still those radio
vignettes or is that like a stone age? I remember
Bob Costas did it, uh? I Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey.
I worked with a guy that replaced Howard Cosell. He
did a like a little three minute speaking of sport,
(13:46):
Howard coast Sell, the old you know, nineteen seventies, sixties broadcaster.
I don't. I don't think they do that though, do they? Well?
I know Dan Patrick does one. Really, Yeah, I'm not.
I'm not sure about anybody else in the sports world.
It's a good point though, Yeah, it's kind of a
lost art, but it was a cool touch on radio
(14:07):
stations when we were a kid, because it was something like,
I remember our AM radio stations would all carry the
Paul Harvey syndication. Oh well, Paul Harvey was huge. Yeah,
that was the most listened to guy in radio. So
even if they didn't have Paul Harvey on their station,
they could still have a touch of his personality by
(14:28):
carrying his little syndicated clips. And now you're going to
know the rest of the story. Paul Harvey, good Day's
got a sound like him with my voice all oh man.
The other thing about Madden, I know, the sort of
Tommy lived in the same house in Fullerton that he
(14:51):
bought when he originally became, you know, somewhat well known
with the Dodgers. He bought a home in the Fullerton
area in Orange County, and I believe he lived there
the same house until he died. I wondered, Madden made
a lot of money, like a ton of money doing TV.
I did he did he live in the same house?
(15:12):
You know, if he moved around or lived in the
same basic house that he bought when he first became
with the Raiders back in the day. That's a good question.
I'm not sure about that. Yeah, I mean I bet
he probably did. Madden seems like the kind of guy
that will be like, all right, I like this area,
I like this house. I got two kids, and the
(15:35):
house is big enough, so I'm not gonna move around.
And plus the fact that John Madden was able to
pull off not flying and and reached the very top broadcasting.
And you know, Dan and I I've obviously experienced this.
(15:56):
If if you're not at a certain level, they will
not do anything for you. Uh, in terms of bending
over travel wise, that mean it's just no, you're gonna fly,
You're gonna stay at this hotel, You're gonna do this,
that and the other thing. And that's just the way
it is, and that's the way it's gonna be. And
(16:18):
and Madden was such a great order of the NFL.
They were like, wow, it's John Maddie. All right, well
look the other one. This is John Maddie. And uh,
it's crazy, crazy that he was able to do that.
And and then that became his thing. As I talked about,
I was a kid and I still remember seeing the
(16:39):
Madden Cruiser. That is dope. And you think you see
the very first broadcaster who got um multimillionaire contract with
every single thing he wanted. That's a good question. I
he was the highest paid NFL broadcaster. But and really
the Fox el cemented that cemented that because Fox paid
(17:03):
him like whatevery, they basically gave him a blank check,
and because they were so desperate to get John Madden.
Otherwise that would have sullied the uh the deal they
got when they got the CBS contract. But um, I'm
too young for Howard Cosell was he I'm sure he
got paid a lot. Did he have the kind of
(17:24):
pull that Madden had? I know a little bit about Cosell.
He was before my time, But I he was not
the highest paid guy. But the salaries aren't anything like
a Madden made more than Cosell. Yeah, I mean, and
now it's just you know, cuckoo for cocoa puffs with
Tony Romo and all these guys are making like eighteen
(17:44):
million dollars a million dollars a game, basically insane and
that nuts crazy nuts were the other duos that come
to mind. They're Madden and Pat Summer. All they were
a soundtrack in a lot of ways. Especially being in
the in Northern California for a while as kid, because
they called a ton of forty games and a ton
(18:07):
of Cowboy games. Obviously, um they were the a team
they had the game of the Week for for Fox.
But also I guess as a little kid, the other
duos that come to mind for me would be like
dick Enberg and Dan Fouts. Um, you know. I it
got me thinking of some of the best duos in
(18:27):
the booth that we grew up with. Yeah, dick Enberg, Yeah,
very nice guy. I met dick Enburg at a Padre
Dodger game. He was getting soft served that's a plumb
pussy right the press box, and he was very very polite.
But Enburg remember I like more of the obscure broadcasters
(18:49):
because I remember Charlie Jones from Oh Yeah Yeah, Um
Don Crickey who always did really shitty games, as I remember,
but it was it was something about Don Crickey hit
this very distinctive delivery. Yeah, and I used to mimic
it when I was a kid because I'm a nerd
(19:11):
and I remember Don Cricky doing those games. I'm trying
to think of some of the other the well. Hank
stram On radio. He did radio, he did TV also,
Hank Stram, like Monday Night with Joe Buck. They were
pretty good back in the day. I'm trying to think
it's funny that we both brought up dick Enberg because
(19:34):
he is one of the voices where no matter what
game he was calling, it sounded more important because he
was on the call. He could yeah, yeah, he could
make a twenty yard completion sound like a world championship.
It's guys, like I guess NBA version would be Marv
Albert a big three pointer. Uh, you know, he could
(19:57):
make a game sounds so much more important and then
maybe it was. And I think about like al Michaels
to me is like the one of the last guys.
You hear al Michaels do the open, It's like a
big deal. But I think that's because we grew up
with those guys. I wonder like if the kids today
are they gonna have that same experience when Joe Buck
(20:19):
does a game, is it Is it the same experience
as Jack You know, I I reminisced about Jack Buck
back in the day, one of the guys I looked
up to. But but Joe Buck, I mean, he's been
around for our Jim Nance at at CBS. I mean,
these are the these are the guys that people have
(20:40):
grown up with and how many more years are they
gonna be doing it? Yeah? And you know, so much
of the talk about the kids nowadays, they obviously just
know John Madden from the video game. They were not
really aware of him as a broadcaster, and certainly we're
not aware of him as a head coach in the NFL.
(21:02):
And even a lot of adults were like, wow, I
had no idea he had a winning percentage like that
and dominated the uh, the division he was in for
so many years. That was kind of nice to go
down Raiders memory Lane with all those famous games. Games
he coached were so famous they have names for the
(21:23):
games like the Sea of Hands and uh Ghost to
the Post and all those kind of games, the Holy Roller,
Immaculate Reception and all. You know, that's pretty cool because
besides Tuck Rule, how many games from the past thirty
years do we have like a name for the game
(21:43):
that we refer to. Yeah, and part of that is
also the era, right, I mean they don't. They don't
do that anymore. Yeah, I don't. I don't think so,
because yeah, you're right. It was very much NFL films.
And you know, we watched the NFL in a in
a different way than we do out. Yeah. Now it's
like you you're soaking in for maybe forty eight hours,
(22:07):
and then you're onto the next game. Right, It's like
that game has died, moving on. It's like playing Donkey
Kong the next game. You forget about the old game.
And uh uh yeah, I mean it was. It was
much different, and it's all social media and consuming stuff obviously,
all right, So I wanted to hear a little bit
of John Madden. He gave one of the great Hall
(22:29):
of Fame speeches. So I'm not sure how much of
this we're gonna play, Danny, but and and we'll react.
I can pause this and and we can play it
and react to it. We'll see how this works. But
this is way back in twenty oh six, John Madden.
We're not gonna play the full speech, but is Pro
Football Hall of Fame in Triman ceremony. So just imagine
(22:51):
a sunny day Canton, Ohio. Al Davis had introduced John Madden.
So I was still around, and uh, here is some
of what madness. He thanked everyone I'm not gonna play
that part. He started out thinking everyone like the people
that live in cant Ohio, like everyone. Uh, And then
he went into something he experienced at the Hall of Fame,
(23:13):
and this this is I thought. The first a few
minutes was pretty good, you know. I was. I was
reading the the NFL stats in history book. And and
that's what when you you do when you write a
bus when you don't fly, you read, you know, big, big,
old thick books like that. But they had a chapter
on history and the first page and the chapter of
(23:37):
history was a list of the Hall of Famers. And
I said, that's right, they got it. That is our history.
The players that played before us, the players that played
when they didn't have face masks, when they had leather helmets,
when got this thing started. The players that played in
smaller stadiums, you know, didn't have the medical thing, didn't
have anything. They laid the foundation for this great game
(24:01):
and we should never forget it. I say the NFL
teams that you want to honor your history more. Sometimes
we tend to get caught up in the players and
the games. Now honor your history, bing bring back the
Hall of Famers, Bring back their teammates. Let the fans
show their appreciation to the history, because I know that,
(24:24):
you know, going in with these guys is is so special,
and you know, we'll always talk about immortality, all right.
And this next part, this is the classic John Madden
about what happens at night He took a page. Remember
that movie Night at the Museum. Yeah, Robin Williams back
(24:47):
in the day. Well, John Madden must have seen that
movie because his next this next part of the rand,
this was I would say this is the signature part
of John Madden Hall of Fame. In frame speech, some
some of us think maybe we will be immortal, that
will live forever, but when you really think about it,
(25:10):
we're not going to be. But I say this, and
this is overwhelming whelming and mind blowing that through this
bust with these guys in that hall, we will be forever.
And you know, when you think of that, it just
blows your mind that it's forever and ever and ever.
(25:31):
And you have to stay with me a moment on
this one. This is a little goofy here, and you're
gonna say, oh, there's old Matt and being being goofy again.
But I started thinking about this after I got voted
in the Hall of Fame. And the more I think
about it, the more I think it's true. And now
I know it's true, and I believe it. Here's the
deal I think over in the Hall of Fame. During
(25:54):
the day, the people go through and they look at everything,
and then at night to the time when they all leave,
and all the fans and all the visitors leave the
Hall of Fame, then there's just the workers. And the
workers start to leave, and then it can center is
just one person. That person turns out the light, locks
(26:16):
the door. I believe that the busts talk to each other,
and I can't wait for that conversation. I really can't.
The Vincla Marts do rock me? To you, to Reggie,
to Walter Payton, to the to the guys that you
want to say? What to all my players, Max players? Yeah,
(26:37):
we will will be there forever and ever and ever
talking about whatever, and and that's that's what I believe,
and that's what I think is gonna happen. And no
one's ever gonna talk to me out of that. Well.
They have you ever been to the Pro Football Hall
of Fame? No, it's on the bucket list. I would
(26:58):
love to go there. It's funny he was talking about
the bust in all of them there at Canton, because
that was really my only complaint. As I look at
his I don't think they did a very good job
on his bronze statue. The likeness. You don't think that
looks like John Madden. It's like it's a younger John
(27:19):
mad I guess so I think that's I think that's
Madden when he was coaching. Yeah, it's not. You're right, though,
we don't know John Madden like that. We know the
old John Madden. We know the old, fun loving broadcasters.
We don't know the young uh, you know, up and
coming coach John Madden. That guy's foreign to us like that,
(27:40):
Who the hell's that guy? Exactly? He's one of the guys,
just like Betty White, who we talked about before the
holiday where you know you killed her by the way,
congratulations Betty White. You were magazine. You were responsible for
the demise of Betty White. How dare that was the
That was the People magazine cover curse that killed her? Um,
(28:04):
but we only knew her as an old person. I
mean she was old on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The same with John Madden. When I was a little kid,
he was already old as a broadcaster. So you're right,
I never saw him as a young person on television. Yeah,
well I did see. I was watching small game shows
(28:25):
because I'm a loser, and they put some old uh
what was it the and there's old celebrity game shows
where they have you know, celebrity panel and you can
pick the celebrity and the answer of the question. And
so Betty White was on that and that's why they
replayed them. And I looked at the other celebrities, and
(28:45):
everyone else had died at least forty years ago. She
outlived everybody. And these people were her contemporaries, and you know,
they were dropped it in the in the or the eighties,
you know. And sah, her husband was a famous host
of one of those games show, Alan Lundon, Right, is
(29:08):
that the is that Lundon or something like that? Is
that the one? I know? It was Alan? Uh? He
died in and you can see here she talked about
how she couldn't wait to be with him again. Uh
when she finally passed on. Yeah. So, and there was
a report that came out a few days ago saying
that that was her last word his name. Really, yeah,
(29:32):
because she wanted to go join him. Uh. But when
I was reading that he passed away in nineteen eighty one,
I was like, holy sh it, what a long time
to long for your partner. Yeah. In a way, it's
like that movie The Green Mile where um Tom Hank's
character got a little touch of everlasting life and lived
(29:52):
past everybody. His family all passed on and he was
still alive. Yeah, it is a it's a weird thing.
You want to live as long as you can. But
then at some point, and we've talked about this before,
like a big part of life is your friends and
your you know, your social network and your your family.
And if if you're alive and you outlive everyone, God,
(30:15):
that's gonna be awkward, right, I mean, that's it's a
blessing and a curse. It's at the same time, it
really is. Anyway, we gotta get out of here, Danny,
But we will be back with a brand new Saturday podcast,
a never before told story. I will debut I did
(30:36):
not speak about this on radio. I did not tweet
about this. I did not do I'll explain why I
didn't do that stuff. But I'll get into all of
that a never before told story on the Saturday podcast.
If you're a fan of The Mallard Show on the Overnight,
you're not gonna want to miss it. But anyway, thank you,
Danny appreciate that, and we will catch you next time.
(31:00):
See Yes, Saturday
Host
Ben Maller
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.