By Michael Cain
John Madden is a hero to me. He is largely responsible for making the Oakland Raiders a great football team in the 1970's. I became a devoted fan of the team and their coach.
My Dad was an original Raiders fanatic who supported the team from its inception. He took me to games at Kezar Stadium, the original home of the Raiders before the Oakland Coliseum was built, and Youell Stadium in downtown Oakland. It is always a wild time at Raiders football games. Beer would flow and fly everywhere, especially when the Raiders scored. I was just a toddler and football was a mean game for big, tough men, and her fans were half-crazed and beer-sodden whoopin' and a-hollerin' fanatics.
I vividly remember meeting Raiders players up close on autograph day. These monstrous men, at the original Der Wienerschnitzel on San Pablo Boulevard were imposing figures with legendary status in the East Bay Area. Ben Davidson was there; this huge man was famous not only in the AFL as a linebacker but also famous in Oakland as the guy who pushes his car around town for his off-season workout; The "Mad Bomber" was there, Daryl Lamonica, who purportedly throws a football 100 yards in the air.
John Madden never appeared there. He lived in the same tract of houses as my Aunt Linda, though, in San Leandro. We drove by his house every time we visited. I imagined John was always too busy planning football plays or strategizing a winning game plan to make personal appearances. I imagined he was about as important as the President.
Madden came from humble beginnings. He began his coaching career at San Diego State and was hired by the Raiders as a linebackers coach. He was quickly thrust into the Head Coach position a year later and became the youngest Head Coach ever in the NFL.
The tag Madden wore on a belt loop of his pants to every game he coached has always been an object of interest and speculation. It's rarely talked about-- even in his heyday it was left un-discussed. My Dad maintained that John was paranoid about not gaining admission onto the field or about getting locked out of the stadium, so he always dangled that admission tag from the front of his pants. I don't know about that for certain. I still would admire John Madden.
Written by Michael Cain
Northern California Writing Project of the Siskiyous
Return to Writing Project Index Page