OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 14: A photograph of John Madden is seen on the jumbo display screen through the One Extra Monday Evening in Oakland: A Celebration of John Madden memorial occasion on the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. (Jane Tyska/Bay Space Information Group)
OAKLAND — Virginia Madden sat on a sofa amid household and pals when a stranger approached. He crouched down on a knee, introduced a field and …
She thought he was going to suggest, she joked later.
Moderately than a hoop, contained in the picket field was a medallion from the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame, a present from its president to honor her late husband’s 2006 induction to the Canton, Ohio museum he cherished.
Tears welled in Virginia Madden’s eyes.
It was one of many few somber reminders Monday night time that John Madden is gone, as a lot as his playful spirit and charming tales stay within the hearts and minds that he touched. He handed away six weeks in the past after 85 years of an impressive life.
Of all of the touching scenes and tales from the John Madden celebration final night time in Oakland, this was a particular sight: Virginia Madden getting introduced a medallion by @ProFootballHOF president Jim Porter on the reception inside Oakland Area pic.twitter.com/vS4jqq1X4p
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) February 15, 2022
Madden would have beloved how the general public celebration performed out in his honor, not that he personally requested something of the kind.
He beloved Oakland, the Coliseum, the Raiders, the followers, the colleagues, the general public and, particularly, the Madden household, the members of which sat in chairs alongside the first-base line and off-stage through the two-hour memorial. 
My spouse and I sat two rows behind them — a Valentine’s date like none of our earlier 26.
“It was nice. It was touching. It was humorous. Turducken, I’d by no means had that,” she mentioned, referring to the turkey-duck-chicken entree Madden made well-known. It was served Monday night time on the VIP reception, which was held on the Warriors’ former court docket contained in the Oakland Area.
How would Madden describe this night time? Colourful adjectives would escort one story to the following, encapsulating a scene that made it really feel like the best place on earth. He’d make it sound each spectacular and manner an excessive amount of for only a common man, a doofus who grew up in Daly Metropolis and loved his finest a long time rising previous within the East Bay.
These are the sights, sounds, tastes, and smiles that may stick with me.
— The Madden matriarch stole the present. “She does that,” son Mike quipped. Virginia performed to the gang of about 2,000 in her on-field interview with emcee Tom Rinaldi. She invoked how she, and her late husband of 62 years, believed within the Raiders – “the Oakland Raiders,” she clarified, to followers’ delight. 
— Greatest dressed: grandsons Jack and Jesse, who wore authentic, All-Madden Group letterman jackets. Jack is a budding chef learning meals at Cal Poly. Jesse is in his freshman 12 months at Michigan, the place he served as a backup quarterback for Jim Harbaugh.
— As he entered the Coliseum, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs coach Andy Reid signed autographs for a similar followers who, within the spirit of the Raiders-Chiefs rivalry, playfully jeered him as soon as he took the stage to talk. “I’m glad I’m not inside spitting distance,” Reid started.
Reid closed by describing a scene in heaven: “The sideline polar bear has arrived. Turkduckens for everyone. All is properly. We love you, Coach.”
— Former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci delivered a heartfelt speech that blended humorous tales of concord, particularly when it got here to their bocce ball rivalry. “The following time you decide up a bocce ball … take a deep breath and suppose this one’s for John. Let her rip, and John can be up there smiling,” Mariucci mentioned.
— John York, the 49ers proprietor, was in attendance. Madden had relayed this story to his son Mike: “Dr. York and I sat as soon as and he mentioned, ‘I do know you’re a Raider, however should you want an area facility or something, and if the Raiders can’t serve you, take into account us your hometown staff.’”
Sure, turducken is being served on the reception after John Madden’s memorial on the Coliseum pic.twitter.com/mDWjFryCnP
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) February 15, 2022
— Mariucci’s MVP decide for the night time: Mike Madden. John’s oldest son who quarterbacked this occasion and anchored the speaker lineup. He additionally represented the household throughout Tremendous Bowl festivities in Los Angeles.
— Mike Madden shared how his dad taught him that, when it got here to reception traces, there are “walk-by” and “stop-by” individuals. So, at an L.A. gala, Mike noticed Corridor of Famer Charles Haley, stopped by to say hiya, and it was Haley who comforted him with loving phrases. At Monday’s reception, Madden stopped by and re-introduced himself to ex-cornerback Lester Hayes, who fondly remembered Mike being connected to the Raiders coach’s hip within the late ‘70s.
— Madden’s different son, Joe, shed a tear as his brother spoke to cap the ceremony. That picture hit residence on the Coliseum’s Jumbotron – and it was carried stay on the NFL Community feed. 
— It was Madden-esque to not solely entice present NFL coaches akin to Reid and Washington’s Ron Rivera, however retired native icons, akin to Bob Ladouceur and Matt Sweeney, who as soon as dominated the East Bay’s prep ranks at De La Salle-Harmony and Foothill-Pleasanton, respectively. That duo fortunately bumped into one another on the reception, exchanged compliments and nonetheless seemed like champs.
— “Commonsense man. No pretense to him, and similar together with his youngsters,” Ladouceur mentioned in aptly describing Madden and his sons (and 5 grandchildren).
— As huge a presence Madden commanded within the sports activities world, former KCBS anchor Stan Bunger reminded everybody Madden was a “Bay Space man,” including: “America beloved him. However we owned him.”
— “Don’t fear concerning the horse being blind. Simply comply with the wagon,” Madden’s quote imprinted on cocktail napkins. Talking of cocktails, sure, Miller Lite was among the many tastes nice/much less filling choices. It was a nod to his Eighties commercials that helped launched his “booming” profession as a colourful pitchman.
— Maybe you’ve seen a black-and-white image of Madden gnawing on a cigar. He by no means smoked them and as an alternative used cigars as pacifiers after quitting cigarettes, his Pleasanton pal Carl Marsh advised me — whereas we occurred to be standing subsequent to Madden’s heart specialist. 
— A cake within the type of the Madden Greyhound cruiser was served on the reception. Outdoors the Coliseum was not solely one of many precise buses he used to journey the nation, but in addition a “Madden Memorial Cruiser” decked out together with his picture. That bus that may service the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority’s routes via the Tri-Valley and his hometown of Pleasanton.
— The memorial and its $32.14 tickets (symbolic of the 1976 Raiders’ Tremendous Bowl rating) had been the newest of the Maddens’ philanthropic endeavors to profit East Bay youth. Six college students are driving such scholarships this 12 months at Madden’s alma mater, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Virginia introduced she would match contributions as much as $1 million.
— “I do know he’s up there and I do know he’s smiling down on all of the gamers right here and all of the followers that supported him for thus a few years,” – Virginia Madden.
— Tony La Russa was bummed he couldn’t make it in from Arizona, forward of his second season of his second stint because the Chicago White Sox supervisor. However La Russa texted me the perfect recommendation he received from Madden: “Deal with each season as a brand new starting and begin from Zero!!”
— No, there weren’t 54,000 within the Coliseum stands just like the crowds that watched Madden go 5-0 because the Raiders coach in Monday night time residence video games. Blame it on Tremendous Bowl hangovers. Or Valentine’s Day. Or the chilly climate — soccer climate, thoughts you. Regardless, it was a win for many who confirmed, which had me recall one thing Madden as soon as advised me about postgame events.
“After a house sport, we at all times had a celebration on the Hilton resort,” Madden mentioned in a 2006 interview. “In the event you received, they had been good events. However they had been sort of pre-parties. Our events
— No, there weren’t 54,000 within the Coliseum stands just like the crowds who watched Madden go 5-0 because the Raiders coach in Monday night time residence video games. Blame it on Tremendous Bowl hangovers. Or Valentine’s Day. Or the chilly climate — soccer climate, thoughts you. Regardless, it was a win for many who confirmed, which had me recall one thing Madden as soon as advised me about postgame events.
“After a house sport, we at all times had a celebration on the Hilton resort,” Madden mentioned in a 2006 interview. “In the event you received, they had been good events. However they had been sort of pre-parties. Our events would go from the Coliseum to the Hilton to Jack London Sq.. I didn’t go to Jack London Sq., my gamers did.”
By no means?
“Oh, possibly a number of instances. It was a unique period.”
The John Madden period was, certainly, splendidly distinctive.