You Will Not Believe What Madden Left Behind

Madden

The NFL’s most legendary coach and broadcaster: John Madden passed away at his home unexpectedly at the age of 85. ‘Coach’ as he was affectionately known by most of the nation was simply put the winning-est football coach in NFL history with the best winning percentage by a head coach (minimum of 10 seasons) at .759, he also started as the youngest at 32. The Coach was made a global football icon for two more generations than one could typically expect by not only his color commentary for literally EVERY major network at one point or another but for the series of Football video games that proudly bear his name and legacy: MADDEN NFL, the first iteration of which was released in 1988. One would think that the coach would be worth billions based on his video game series alone, never mind his lucrative broadcasting contracts.

In a statement to NFL.com they wrote, “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.”

Madden coached the Oakland Raiders for ten seasons, leading them to their first SuperBowl over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. He never had a losing season as a head coach and was the youngest NFL coach in history to pass 100 wins when he was 42.

“The Raiders Family is deeply saddened by the passing of the legendary John Madden,” the Raiders said in a statement. “Few individuals meant as much to the growth and popularity of professional football as Coach Madden, whose impact on the game both on and off the field was immeasurable.”

What Madden Leaves Behind

As we started by saying, with 33 years of annually developed and released video games, never minding his broadcasting career, the royalties must’ve been unbelievable. But that’s where what the Coach leaves behind for his family and heirs is a little confusing. According to AS.com,

“In the late ’80s, Madden signed a deal, roughly worth $8 million, with EA Sports to launch the “Madden NFL Football” video game series. Since then, ‘Madden NFL’ has sold over 250 million copies, and has contributed significantly to Madden’s financial success.

Madden has been making about $14 million per year from his video game franchise, besides all his work as an iconic broadcaster for all four major networks, Fox, CBS, ABC, and NBC.”

All said and told, the Coach leaves behind a personal fortune of about $200 million, and if his family’s attorneys are any good about $14 million in residual revenue in perpetuity as long as Madden games are produced. A handsome legacy for his family to be sure, but confessedly, based upon the meteoric sales of each game’s iterations.. not as much as we thought. What do you think?

So long Coach, thanks for the memories.

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