Hall of Fame coach Tom Flores remembers Raiders great John Madden. ‘Loved his players.’
.JPG "FILE - Former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden gestures toward a bust of himself during his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Aug. 5, 2006. John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster whose exuberant calls combined with simple explanations provided a weekly soundtrack to NFL games for three decades, died Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, the NFL said. He was 85.")
Raiders Hall of Fame coach Tom Flores remembered John Madden as being a “great loyal coach” who “loved his team.”
Madden died unexpectedly Tuesday morning. He was 85.
The native of Austin, Minnesota was one of the youngest head coaches in NFL history when the Raiders hired him in 1969 at age 32.
Flores joined the Raiders in 1972 as a wide receivers coach and helped call plays for Madden.
“I went to work for John and I didn’t know him that well,” he said. “I respected his position and what he did. We kind of had to get to know each other and we found out that we worked pretty well together.”
The Raiders never had a losing season during Madden’s tenure as head coach and he led the Oakland Raiders to a title in Super Bowl XI with a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings following the 1976 season.
The Raiders won 17 consecutive games between 1976 and 1977 under Madden.
Madden had a regular-season record 103-32-7 and a postseason record 9-7.
After Madden retired in 1979, the late Al Davis named Flores the head coach. The native of Sanger in Fresno County went on to lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl titles.
“10 years, 103 victories. Man, that’s big,” Flores said. “That’s huge and a lot of games. That wasn’t a 16- or 17-game season. He had an incredible career. He was very consistent, and he was a really quick learner.
“One thing he did was show me how to deal with Al and how to work for Al. We didn’t have much time to do anything else. We socialized for a little bit because we didn’t have much time to do anything.”
Many of Madden’s former players took to social media, including Lester Hayes to remember their beloved coach.
Cornerback Lester Hayes was a rookie in 1978 when he learned a new position.
“I had never played cornerback before,” Hayes wrote. “At Texas A&M, I played linebacker and became an All-American strong safety. After our first practice, Coach Madden is in his usual spot, standing near the exit gate biting on a towel. I walk up to him and asked ‘Coach Madden, please let me play strong safety. I am a stud strong safety.’ Coach Madden said ‘you have great feet and great speed. You can play cornerback.’ I turned into a big baby and began to cry. I said ‘but Coach Madden! I’ve never played corner back.’ Coach Madden is laughing. He said ‘Trust me.’ I looked in his eyes. There was fire, trust and love in his eyes. He said again, ‘You can play cornerback.’
“God gave Coach Madden a special gift of foresight to see what few men could see.”
Flores saw the bond Madden had with his players. It stood out to Flores.
“They were loyal,” Flores said. “Players liked John. John loved his players and the players were first and everything else was second. That is the way it should be. You gotta love your players, otherwise it’s not going to work. The players really liked John and they responded to him because he was the same in practice and games. That was important because I always felt what my strengths were. I was always doing the same. Never change because of gameday. Didn’t change because it was Monday’s press day.
“That’s the way he was. John is a good teacher and he was loyal to his players.”
