For more than a generation the avuncular John Madden was the principal voice of America's most popular game, professional football.
In his more than 30 years as a broadcaster, the former coach turned announcer appeared on all four networks and was familiar to those old enough to remember his 1977 Super Bowl victory with the Oakland Raiders as to those young enough to tackle his bestselling video game.
So when Madden, 73, announced Thursday that he was leaving NBC's broadcast booth, it sent ripples of surprise through the sporting and television world.
"This is like Johnny Carson retiring," said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. "Carson was not the best comedian, but people loved him. I would not call John the most articulate or analytical mind, but he brought to a football broadcast knowledge and fun that worked even if you didn't care about the game. He was a vaudevillian in the booth."
The gregarious Hall of Fame coach was known not only for his gridiron insights -- spiced with colorful stories, loopy play diagrams and occasional songs, as well as the shouted "boom!" -- but also for his stamp on pop culture, which included his EA sports video game and his pitches for Outback Steakhouse, Sirius Satellite Radio, Verizon Wireless and Ace Hardware.
To colleagues and sports fans, Madden, the only person to work as a lead analyst at all four networks, was the jolly guy who cruised from game to game in a well-equipped bus he called the "Madden cruiser" because he hated to fly.
He was the amateur cook who on Thanksgiving Day games would always show a mouthwatering version of the turducken -- chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey.
"He brought such a big-as-life personality with the combination of insight and fun, of everyman enjoyment," said NBC's Bob Costas, host of the network's "Football Night in America" studio show. "And with the Madden video game, that connected him to the younger generation and players. A lot of players play Madden, he was able to do that into his 70s. He stayed contemporary."
The decision to retire ultimately came down to family, particularly his grandchildren, Madden said Thursday morning on the Bay Area's KCBS (740 AM and 106.9 FM) radio station, where he appears in regular segments called "The Daily Madden."
In the 12-minute interview, he also lamented missing much of the childhood of his two sons because he was on the road.
