earning 16 sports emmys during his time in the broadcast booth. madden s playing career was short lived. he was drafted in 1958 by the philadelphia eagles but an injury cut it all short. that s when he decided to try his hand at coaching becoming the youngest coach in football history at the age of 33. in 1977, he led the oakland raiders to a super bowl victory and still the franchise all-time leader. madden was inducted in the pro football hall of fame in 2006. boom! reporter: madden was a television advertisers dream becoming the pitch man for numerous brands. let me tell you, pace is the place for me. reporter: madden lending his voice and name to what is now called madden nfl. anything that goes that far, that fast ought to have dinner and in-flight movie. reporter: his video game is still the most popular game ever, selling more than 100 million copies worldwide.
red coach in history at the age of 33. in 1977 he led the oakland raiders to a super bowl victory. he was inducted into the pro football hall of fame for his coaching career in 2006. madden was a television advertiser s dream becoming the pitch man for numerous brands. let me tell you, ace is the place for me. reporter: in 1988, madden entered the video game world lending his voice and name to what s now called madden nfl. anything that goes that far that fast ought to have dinner and an inflight movie. reporter: his game is the most popular video football game ever, selling more than 100 million copies wiorld wide. his passion for the game is what will always be remembered. some of us think maybe we will be immortal, we ll live forever. when you really think about it, we aren t going to be.
the pass and attack them deep with the pass. reporter: his passionate way of calling games with unique catch phrases the packers came out, went boom and got ten points. reporter: and he helped explain the game to fans across america. he called games for all four major networks, announcing 11 super bowls and earning 16 sports emmys during his time in the broadcast booth. his playing career was short lived. he was drafted in 1958 by the philadelphia eagles. but a knee injury cut it short that s when he denied to try his hand at coaching, becoming the youngest head coach in professional football history at the age of 33. in 1977, hi led the oakland raiders to a super bowl victory, and is still the franchise s all-time wins leader. madden was inducted into the pro football hall of fame for his coaching career in 2006. boom. reporter: he was a television advertiser s dream, becoming the pitch man for numerous brands. ace is the place for me.
broadcast booth. hi, i m john madden. pat summerall and i have been with both the teams all week. reporter: teaming up with the unselfish pat summerall to call games on cbs, and then to fox and nbc sports for 30 years, earning 16 emmys along the way. we call it just b.g.d. just big guy defense. that s all. reporter: john madden never stopped coaching football. for millions of americans, he took a complicated game, made it fun and easier to understand. they bring from the outside and, boom, two up the middle. reporter: he became a national pitch man, endorsing several products. boom! tough acting tinactin. reporter: and later a video hall of famer. are you kidding me? reporter: he kicked off a revolution in the industry, krcreating a game with ea sport, the groundbreaking football franchise, madden nfl. his voice, his smile, were infectious and his fear of flying were legendary. when john madden pulled up into
reporter: tonight, the world of sports honoring the life of a giant among them. john madden. epitomizing coaching greatness. reporter: from the super bowl john madden s grin is from ear to ear. reporter: to the broadcasting booth. never at a loss for words. we want to throw those short little things where he can come back, set up, boom. right there, boom. you go left, left, left, boom, you get him. reporter: using that telestrator to draw viewers in, even when it didn t have anything to do with the game. if this guy here is pointing to this and if he takes this and dumps it on that, he ll be the player of the game. reporter: our michael strahan tweeting, when you played and jaund madden was on the call, it was time to shine. troy aikman calling him a treasure and incredible friend. on thanksgiving, he was ans institution. you cut it, likes right down here. reporter: and he was just as good as a pitch man, from beer could i go for a nice cold beet. to foo