Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Boom!
There's John Madden, sitting alone reading a newspaper, sipping coffee Saturday morning in the breakfast lounge of his Rose Hotel that sits on Main Street. It's an elegant 38-room gem Madden owns with his sons, Mike and Joe.
Everyone knows Madden, well beyond this time-warp East Bay town.
Madden, the Super Bowl XI-winning, Hall of Fame Oakland Raiders coach. Madden, the former television analyst remembered for his telestrator and bombastic verbiage to help explain football to the masses. Madden, the name attached to the iconic football video-game franchise that keeps his legendary brand vibrant.
Today, Madden and sons own two other local hotels, a vineyard and other real estate the former coach has invested in since 1967. He retired from broadcasting in 2009 but remains very much an analyst. His gift has always been his folksy ability to connect with people — first through football, now through their stories.
"I like to hear about what people do," Madden told USA TODAY Sports. "That's more interesting than talking about what the hell I do."
Madden retired to be at home with his version of the All-Madden team: wife Virginia, his two sons and their wives and five grandchildren.
"Virginia and I would take our sons and we'd be gone for six months at a time," Madden said. "The grandkids were so young, they didn't know who the heck I was."
Not anymore.
"This makes up for all my dad's years on the road," says Joe Madden, 49, who coaches sons Sam and Aidan's flag football teams.
It means everything to Mike's oldest son, Jack, the 13-year-old spitting image of his grandfather.
"It's like I won the lottery times 10," says Jack Madden, a center and nose guard. "He gives me tips all the time like, 'Nose guards never jump offsides.'"
TODAY'S MADDEN
The myth? That Madden retired.
"He just retired from broadcasting — the only thing he's stepped away from,'' Mike Madden says.
The 78-year-old keeps his head in the game. He serves the NFL competition committee on the coach's subcommittee and the league's safety panel. Each Monday, he reviews the officiating and injury reels along with the coaches' "All-22" tape from every game.
Sunday, Madden invited USA TODAY Sports to get his take on trends at the season's halfway point at his 8,000-square foot Goal Line Productions studio.
Madden draws up a numbered play sheet of games to match each screen. This Madden Command Center was his dream from the early 1980s when he first walked into CBS's New York City studio one Sunday off.
"I never watched TV because I was always doing a game," Madden said. "I didn't have any experience to be home watching games. I didn't know how to do it.
"Brent Musburger and those guys could sit and watch every game and know the scores. And I was amazed and said, 'I'd like to have something like that someday.'"
Madden has an ever-present twinkle in his glacial blue eyes as he watches the bank of monitors.
The pregame shows are on. Madden's family is there along with several guests.
Madden says it's time to grab something to eat: omelettes, hash browns and coffee are all part of a pigskin feast. At one point, he sits in his leather chair, reminiscent of Captain Kirk on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and J.J. Watt might be the faces of the league. Madden remains its voice.
Madden's 11-year-old grandson, Jesse, sits nearby rocking a Ken Stabler Raiders throwback jersey, watching the Raiders lose again.
"I like the Raiders, but they're 0-and-forever," Jesse says.
PHOTOS: John Madden through the years
AND THE RAIDERS?
If the Raiders are home, the family takes one of two Madden Cruisers to their game. Otherwise, Madden watches at Goal Line Productions.
Madden led the Raiders to a 112-39-7 record as head coach from 1969 to 1978. He doesn't have an easy answer on how to fix the 0-8 Raiders.
And he can't envision former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, ESPN's Monday Night Football analyst, returning to Oakland.
"The further you get away from it — the game changes from week to week, from month to month and from year to year," Madden said. "So the more years you're out, they're playing a different game than he coached.
"The game that Jon Gruden coached isn't the game they're playing now."
Madden attends Raiders home games out of loyalty to his late friend and former owner, Al Davis. But he keeps his distance.
Otherwise, "You just become a distraction," Madden said. "And you don't help anyone."
Madden offers some wise advice with the franchise's lease at O.Co Coliseum expiring after this season.
"I think they have to exhaust every possibility to stay in Oakland, which they should," Madden said. "And then if that doesn't work out, then L.A. would be a possibility."
The Raiders, who last made the playoffs in 2002, are assured of their 12th consecutive non-winning season.
"Nothing has been smooth there for a long time," Madden said.
THE IMPACT OF MADDEN
John's wife, Virginia, leads a tour through the inner sanctum of this Madden museum.
She shows off some prized treasures, including two hand-sewn "war rugs'' sent to her from American military men and women who served in Afghanistan. The war rugs — ornate designs of helicopters and other military unit markings — were their way of saying, "Thank you," for Madden video games the Maddens sent to Afghanistan at Christmas.
"Last year we sent 100 video games to a hospital for kids who lost their limbs and fingers," Virginia said. "It was amazing how they learned to adapt to play the video games."
Nearly 800 trick-or-treaters flocked to the Maddens' home on Halloween, many of them with hopes of bagging something far more prized than candy.
After 30 years, Virginia knows how much candy to purchase.
"There's so many kids who only know me from the video game," John Madden said. "And they want to know if I'm home — and if I have a video game I can give them on Halloween.
"And sometimes they're surprised to learn there actually is a 'Madden.'"
BIO BOX
John Earl Madden
Born: April 10, 1936, in Austin, Minn.
Playing career: Played on offensive and defensive lines for California Polytechnic College in 1957 and 1958. … Was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 but a knee injury ended his rookie season and his career.
NFL head coach: After two seasons as the Oakland Raiders linebackers coach, Madden was named head coach of the Raiders in 1969 at 32 years old.
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Madden was enshrined as part of the Class of 2006 after coaching the Raiders for 10 years (1969-1978) and amassing an overall record of 112-39-7, which includes a victory in Super Bowl XI against the Minnesota Vikings.
Broadcast career: Madden began his broadcast career in 1979 after he retired from coaching. He teamed up with Pat Summerall and Al Michaels during his career before he retired in 2009. He won 16 Emmy Awards.
"Madden" video game: The first Madden football game was released in 1988 on Apple II, according to EA Sports.
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