Review of "The Road to Canton: John Madden’s Ride Through Football History," DVD

 Review of

The Road to Canton: John Madden’s Ride Through Football History, DVD

Five out of five stars

Still has the highest winning % of modern coaches

 Given his history as the highest rated football announcer of all time, many people do not realize that in his ten seasons as head coach of the Raiders, John Madden achieved the highest winning percentage of all modern NFL coaches. That percentage is .759 and is topped only by the .784 mark achieved by Guy Chamberlain in the twenties.

 Madden is unusual because he could have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his record as a coach or his career as a broadcaster. In both cases, he voluntarily left those positions when he clearly could have still been effective in both. Madden was so good in the broadcast booth that I would watch his game even though I had no interest in the teams.

 Some of highlights include the “games with a name,” for example there is the “Holy Roller,” where in the last play of the game Raider quarterback Kenny Stabler apparently fumbles forward and the ball is bounced and pushed ahead until it is recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Madden is of course himself in this video, explaining many aspects of his life, almost never meandering away from football.

 One thing is clear from watching this video, Madden was a great coach and a great broadcaster and when he left both positions, the game lost something irreplaceable.