John Madden Tim Brown

To the younger fans of the NFL, John Madden is best known for his career as color commentator for CBS, FOX, and ABC and the centerpiece of a popular video game, but to those who watched the league during the period after the NFL/AFL merger, he is also remembered as a very accomplished coach that led the to a Super Bowl title in 1976. Madden has been eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for 27 years, and has been unfairly passed over each time. Another former Raider who will probably not have to wait as long to punch his ticket to Canton, Tim Brown, was ten years old when Madden led Oakland to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. So it was somewhat strange to see him take a swipe at Madden for some reason earlier in the week, saying that he heard from some of the old Raiders that if not for Madden, the team may have won the championship a few more times.Obviously, since none of the "old Raiders" have come forward with these kinds of comments, this backhanded slap was probably best left unsaid. I have no doubt that Brown is telling the truth, as he's never had a reputation of making up things. However, Brown never played under Madden so how would he know what kind of coach he was? Madden must not have been too much of a "hindrance", despite Brown's remarks, considering he never had a losing season and posted a 103-32-7 record to go along with a Super Bowl championship in ten seasons at the helm. The didn't have anywhere near that kind of consistent success, nor did they have that kind of stability at head coaching position, during Brown's time with the team. So maybe this is all just a case of sour grapes on the part of Tim Brown.