"My grandkids know when I'm gone and when I'm not," he told the radio audience. "You go away in August and you come back in January. I just got to the point in my life where that's not the deal anymore."
He recognized that his rationale may be treated skeptically, but insisted that it be taken at face value. There's no contract dispute or darker, undisclosed motive involving his departure, he said.
"There's nothing wrong. Everyone is going to say 'Madden retires, what's wrong.' There is nothing. There is nothing wrong with me," said Madden, who was reportedly making just under $10 million a year at NBC. "At some point you know you have to do this."
When Madden told NBC of his retirement plans, NBC executives flew to California to talk him out of it. Dick Ebersol, the head of NBC Sports, tried during an all-day meeting to persuade the announcer to postpone his departure until next season or to at least take a part-time gig this season.
"I knew right away there was no way of talking him out of it," said Ebersol during a conference call with reporters. "I knew in his voice he really thought about this."
This fall will be the first time since Madden's freshman year of high school in Daly City, Calif., that he won't be involved in football as a player, coach or analyst.
"John could have stayed there as long as he wanted to," said Al Michaels, Madden's broadcast partner in the NBC booth. "He's got a very organized mind; he doesn't make rash decisions. It's not going to come September and John will change his mind. This is what he wants."
Later Thursday, NBC announced that former NFL wide receiver Cris Collinsworth, who had been anchoring the network's football show, would replace Madden in the Sunday night game booth.
"John Madden broadcast football with a unique passion and style," said Collinsworth in a statement. "Without question, he is the greatest sports analyst of all time."
Madden's career in television began in 1979 after he retired as the coach of the Oakland Raiders and joined CBS, where he teamed with Pat Summerall, the former New York Giants placekicker. In 1994, when CBS lost its rights to the NFL, Madden moved to Fox. Then, in 2002, he left for ABC's "Monday Night Football," before finally moving in 2006 to NBC's "Sunday Night Football."
NBC has become increasingly reliant on pro football. This season, "Sunday Night Football" averaged 16.3 million total viewers, up 5% compared with the previous year, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.
