{"id":391632,"date":"2022-01-07T04:19:03","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T01:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/john-madden-passed-up-his-chance-to-stop-the-nfls-decay\/"},"modified":"2022-01-07T04:19:03","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T01:19:03","slug":"john-madden-passed-up-his-chance-to-stop-the-nfls-decay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/john-madden-passed-up-his-chance-to-stop-the-nfls-decay\/","title":{"rendered":"#John Madden passed up his chance to stop the NFL&#8217;s decay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a371b1ecc544\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a371b1ecc544\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/john-madden-passed-up-his-chance-to-stop-the-nfls-decay\/#Reasonable_criticism_now_gets_you_fired\" >Reasonable criticism now gets you fired<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/john-madden-passed-up-his-chance-to-stop-the-nfls-decay\/#Brown_ban_overdue\" >Brown ban overdue<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#John Madden passed up his chance to stop the NFL&#8217;s decay<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/phil-mushnick.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Phil Mushnick\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/phil-mushnick.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/phil-mushnick.png?w=38 38w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>     <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Land of Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda lies in a vast, barren wasteland \u2014 the desolate site of the Crypts of Lost Opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>John Madden passed on Dec. 28. Long celebrated as the best of TV analysts for his \u201cBooms!\u201d his <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earances in beer ads, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> on buses and his Thanksgiving Day feasts, I understood his popularity. To a point.<\/p>\n<p>If only he could have applied his presence to the good and welfare of football. He didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, to me, he was first in a continuing <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of disappointments among those who would have, could have and should have made a difference.<\/p>\n<p>In 1979, when Madden was first heard on CBS, NFL <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s began to degenerate into self-promotional, me-first, sport-be-damned spectacles. Soon, Madden had the forum and clout to offend the offenders. But he passed on that opportunity, whistling past the decay, unwilling, like many eyewitnesses, to <em>get involved<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Would the steady presence of an Antonio Brown, Adam \u201cPacman\u201d Jones and dozens of other well-established creeps \u2014 fresh from American colleges, no less \u2014 have been indulged had Madden made it even occasionally plain that their acts are childish, selfish, immodest, unwelcome and often counterproductive? We\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n<p>Madden actually chose to applaud some perps.<\/p>\n<p>In a close game, after relentlessly selfish (thus expendable) superstar Randy Moss drew a 15-yard penalty from the sideline for spraying a water bottle on a side judge, Rather than ask aloud why Moss wasn\u2019t ejected, Madden laughed, as if he enjoyed and approved Moss\u2019s act.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-nbc-booth.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"NBC Sports commentators John Madden and Al Michaels\" class=\"wp-image-20744938\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-nbc-booth.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-nbc-booth.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-nbc-booth.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>John Madden had the clout to quiet the noise of NFL showboats \u2014 and chose not to.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Late in a game his team was winning, Deion Sanders intercepted a pass, then needlessly, mindlessly tried to lateral it. Madden logically should have knocked Sanders\u2019 senselessness.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he claimed that this play proved Sanders to be \u201cthe most entertaining man in football.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>I didn\u2019t believe him when he said that, not after he\u2019d told me during one of our two long telephone conversations that games were being diminished by and even lost to showboats. My enthusiastic suggestion that he speak such important words on the air was ignored, but who was I?<\/p>\n<p>The only on-field personnel Madden knocked were defenseless game officials. Yet Madden had a rotten grasp of NFL rules.<\/p>\n<p>As a pre-Roger Goodell NFL VP told me, Madden, when told he was bashing officials for correctly enforcing rules, Madden\u2019s reply was, \u201cThen change the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Madden was never known as a grateful or gracious employee. During his 14 years at CBS, he depended on lower-rung insiders to do his weekly biddings.<\/p>\n<p>When he left for Fox and a record $6 million per, he didn\u2019t bother to thank any of them, those who helped Madden become TV star John Madden.<\/p>\n<p>While at Fox, which adding to his enormous wealth, he publicly stated he\u2019d one day like to call \u201cMonday Night Football\u201d on ABC.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-scoreboard-nfl-tribute.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"The scoreboard displays a tribute to John Madden\" class=\"wp-image-20744937\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-scoreboard-nfl-tribute.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-scoreboard-nfl-tribute.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-scoreboard-nfl-tribute.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>NFL teams paid tribute to the late John Madden in early January.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fox execs freaked, biting their fingers raw in worry they\u2019d lose Madden, when they should have fired him for public insubordination (See: Harry Truman vs. Douglas MacArthur). As Fox\u2019s highest-paid employee, he openly campaigned for a job with another network. That\u2019s treason.<\/p>\n<p>Madden\u2019s top-selling video game came with twisted elements designed to desensitize the young in no further need of twisting.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-obit-nfl-change.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Head Coach John Madden of the Oakland Raiders\" class=\"wp-image-20744936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-obit-nfl-change.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-obit-nfl-change.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-obit-nfl-change.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>John Madden as coach of the Oakland Raiders.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Focus on Sport\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One edition included the package-printed come-on: \u201cSack the quarterback! Send him to the hospital!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That appeared with the game as an ambulance racing onto the field to scoop up the QB, running over players as it went, leaving those players to drip computerized red blood.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>In my second long conversation with Madden, I asked if this met with his approval, his sense of football as a sport. He didn\u2019t like the question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want me to do, have all the games recalled?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No, but how did you allow such content to be sold under your name?<\/p>\n<p>Madden replied that he had no say in the matter. I replied that he should have the first and last word in <em>anything<\/em> sold in his name.<\/p>\n<p>That was our last conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing written above wasn\u2019t written when Madden was alive, and I\u2019ve allowed what I feel is a respectable time to pass since his death to write this. It won\u2019t change anything. Madden will be recalled as extra special in the annals of sportscasting.<\/p>\n<p>But just as I\u2019d have a tough time ignoring Madden\u2019s passing, I won\u2019t write what I don\u2019t believe. Take it or leave it, it\u2019s just my version of a tough-to-write, unpopular truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reasonable_criticism_now_gets_you_fired\"><\/span>Reasonable criticism now gets you fired<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>MLB Network\u2019s dismissal of credible, hard-working reporter\/analyst Ken Rosenthal allegedly for several times mildly criticizing MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who hasn\u2019t even earned legitimate mild praise, is both disturbing and unsurprising.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>MLBN is likely guilty of crimes committed by nearly all networks and teams that control the networks on which they appear: treating viewers, often subscribers, as morons.<\/p>\n<p>There is no better reflection on a sport or a team than allowing its broadcasters the freedom to be reasonably candid toward the audience. They need not engage in roaring condemnations to let us know what they think we should know \u2014 if we don\u2019t already know.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s called good faith. Mostly forbidden, good faith has never cost any network even one viewer.<\/p>\n<p>When MSG Network was regarded as America\u2019s best regional sports network, president Bob Gutkowski hid nothing and hid from nothing, including mistakes. The good faith cultivated among viewers was returned and sustained. Team voices were allowed their voices, with Gutkowski\u2019s support and encouragement.<\/p>\n<p>That ended, never to return, with the Garden\u2019s sale to the Dolan Family in 1995.<\/p>\n<p>The value of honesty is always discounted. The commentary over Yankees telecasts on YES is too often an insult to those who see and know better. Michael Kay can insist he\u2019s not a house man, but there\u2019s too much evidence to the contrary.<\/p>\n<p>Every weekend NBC Sports updates ignore mainstream sports in favor of promoting its Olympics coverage, often months away \u2014 again, as if we don\u2019t know better. Friday mornings, even NBC\u2019s \u201cToday Show\u201d crew feigns excitement for NBC\u2019s Sunday night NFL telecast.<\/p>\n<p>For years, most everything on ESPN and ESPN Radio have become transparent promotions of ESPN goods. WFAN has become a sports gambling station to reflect ownership\u2019s investments in sports gambling.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/ken-rosenthal-mlb-network-fired.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"ken rosenthal interview walt weiss during the 2021 world series\" class=\"wp-image-20745038\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/ken-rosenthal-mlb-network-fired.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/ken-rosenthal-mlb-network-fired.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/ken-rosenthal-mlb-network-fired.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Ken Rosenthal\u2019s firing by MLB Network is both disturbing and unsurprising.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Frank Micelotta\/Fox Sports<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The sacking of Rosenthal, who maintains his Fox weekend gigs, will allow MLB Network more time to promote what now seems to matter most: MLB\u2019s daily gambling lines and the Manfred-certified Top 100 Bat Flips.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brown_ban_overdue\"><\/span>Brown ban overdue<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Had Roger Goodell been a genuine guardian of the game and not a pandering <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> dilettante, he\u2019d long ago have told Antonio Brown, \u201cWe\u2019ve given you five second chances. You\u2019re done.\u201d But Goodell is more likely to invite Brown to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p>In a 91-82 loss to the Clippers last week, the Celtics shot 4-for-42 on 3-pointers. Adam Silver is no dope. How much longer before he makes an executive decision to return basketball to NBA games?<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p>Since the 2011 Goodell \u201cPSLs are good investments\u201d season, the Giants are 70-106, the Jets are 63-113. PSLs ended years of waiting lists for Giants and Jets tickets, but there\u2019s a perverse upside to those being suckered: Goodell\u2019s NFL is so addicted to TV money, only PSL owners to bad teams are granted logical 1 p.m. home game starts.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/06\/john-madden-passed-up-his-chance-to-stop-the-nfls-decay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#John Madden passed up his chance to stop the NFL&#8217;s decay&#8221; The Land of Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda lies in a vast, barren wasteland \u2014 the desolate site of the Crypts of Lost Opportunities. John Madden passed on Dec. 28. Long celebrated as the best of TV analysts for his \u201cBooms!\u201d his appearances in beer ads, travel on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":391633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/john-madden-nbc-booth.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[123330,75282,122777,123150,869,20926],"class_list":["post-391632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-1-6-22","tag-equal-time","tag-john-madden","tag-mlb-network","tag-nfl","tag-rob-manfred"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}