John Madden: “I still think my decision was the right thing at the right time, but to say I don’t miss it would be a lie because that would mean I never enjoyed it like I did enjoy it.”
January 20, 2010 – 7:00 am by Michael BeanJohn Madden! I’ve missed him all year on NBC’s Sunday Night telecasts. Sure, Madden had lost it a little bit and it’s not like the man hadn’t paid his dues over the years traveling cross country on his bus to call football games. I still missed him though. So I was pleased to see him on the air in Seattle yesterday afternoon. He joined KJR in the Seattle with Ian Furness to talk about what he thinks the hometown Seahawks need to do to get back on track, why he thinks Pete Carroll won’t be overwhelmed, how he misses his job but has no plans to ever return to the booth, and who he thinks will advance this coming weekend in the conference championship games.
On what he thinks the Seattle Seahawks need to do to get back on track after several disappointing years:
“I just think that they need to get settled down. This instability obviously doesn’t work and they have to get stable again not only as an organization, but as a team, as players they need players and they have to get the right guys. And we can go back to the offensive line. I mean, when they had Steve Hutchinson there, that was a big thing. I thought when they lost him – they still had Walter Jones there – but you lost Hutchinson, I thought that was a big part of it. And then they lost this guy and that guy and on down and pretty soon, the talent dwindled down, some of the guys got a little older. So it’s kind of an unstable situation now that they have to get stabilized. And to be honest, I don’t think it’s going to be that hard because they’re not in a tough division. I mean who do they have to be better than? The Arizona Cardinals, they’re the best team in the division right now but they’re no powerhouse, and they could be losing Kurt Warner. The San Francisco 49ers and the Rams. So they have a pretty big step that they have to take but I don’t think it’s an impossible step.”
On how he thinks Pete Carroll will fare as the new Seahawks head coach:
“Well, Pete Carroll is one of those guys who has done both. It’s not like he was a college guy and had never been a pro guy. I mean, he was a pro guy as an assistant, he was a pro guy as a defensive coordinator, he was a pro guy as a head coach of two teams, and then went to college. So Pete Carroll, he has a background in the NFL, he knows what it takes to win, he knows what an NFL player is. And he knows in stepping into the NFL, he knows what he’s stepping in to.”
On if he misses being in the booth calling games:
“Yeah I really miss it. It’s something, I loved all parts of it. I loved the travel and I loved the camaraderie of our team and talking to players and coaches and watching film, and doing the games. If you really love what you’re doing and then you don’t do it anymore, you will miss it. Now, I don’t regret my decision. I still think my decision was the right thing at the right time, but to say I don’t miss it would be a lie because that would mean I never enjoyed it like I did enjoy it.”
On if there’s a chance he’ll ever be back in the booth calling games:
“No, no. I will never do another game. The last game I did was last year’s Super Bowl and I walked away from it and that will be the last one. I’ll never do another one. There’s always opportunities – come back do this, do the other playoff game on NBC, those types of things. And I have no interest. When I walked away from coaching I said I’d never go back and I didn’t. And when I walked away from the booth I said I’ll never go back and I won’t.”
On who he likes to advance to the Super Bowl this coming weekend:
“Boy I don’t know. I kind of like the way this thing is laying out in that three of the four teams were teams with the best records. So it kind of shows what you do in the regular season does have carryover. At one time, it wasn’t that long ago, that three of them – Indy, Minnesota and New Orleans – were the three undefeated teams. And then Minnesota lost, and then it was New Orleans and Indy. And then New Orleans lost and Indy lost, and they’re three of the final four. So anyway, I kind of like that. Then I kind of like to have the long shot underdog and that’s the New York Jets playing old fashioned football – running the ball, rookie quarterback. I like that story too. So I think this thing is laying out pretty good. Now, having said that, I would obviously pick the favorites. I would think that Indianapolis has been super this year and they’ve done everything that they’ve had to to win games. And the other team that looks very proficient to me right now is the New Orleans Saints. So if I had to pick the two teams that I think will be in the Super Bowl it would be the Colts and the Saints.”
Listen here to Madden on KJR in Seattle
Tags: best offensive lines in football, Colts vs Jets, conference championship games, John Madden, KJR, NFL Playoffs, Saints vs Vikings
4 Responses to “John Madden: “I still think my decision was the right thing at the right time, but to say I don’t miss it would be a lie because that would mean I never enjoyed it like I did enjoy it.””
I think the Colts and Saints in the SuperBowl would make a great game. The Jets are playing the spoilers, anmd you can’t count out Brett Favre and the Vikings, look what they did to the Cowboys.
I would say odds are good, that it will be the Colts and the Saints in the big game.
By MJParrish on Jan 20, 2010
This game brings back fond memories. The year 1969. One team very much the under dog because they were in the AFL and everyone thought the NFL was far superior. The AFL team had a loud mouth rookie QB who predicted his team would win. The player. Joe Namath, 17 out of 28 passes for 206 yards with no touchdown passes thrown. The opposing QB Earl Morrall lead the league with a passer rating of 93.2. The NFL opponent had won 10 games in a row, including four shutouts, and finished the season with an NFL-best 13-1 record. In those 10 games, they had allowed only seven touchdowns and avenged their sole regular season loss against the Cleveland Browns by crushing them, 34-0, in the NFL Championship Game. By the end of the season, many people thought this NFL opponent was one of the best teams of all time, stronger than even Vince Lombardi’s Super Bowl I and II champion Green Bay Packers.
The game Jets vs. Colts. The New York Jets defeated the 18-point favorite Baltimore Colts 16-7. So many poor souls lost money on that game. Even some doubting Jets’ fans.
By Walter Foley on Jan 21, 2010