Madden appeared on all four major American television networks, providing commentary for games broadcast by CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC.

[1][2] His father, an auto mechanic, moved the Madden family to Daly City, California, located south of San Francisco, when John was young.

[21] Madden's senior research project at Cal Poly focused on the use of weights to increase strides and speed in athletic training.

[22] He won first-team[23] all-conference honors[24] at offensive tackle in his debut season at Cal Poly, and was a catcher on the Mustangs baseball team.

[12] Known amongst his teammates for his impressive downfield speed for a lineman,[25] Madden also was selected by United Press International for Little All-Coast Second Team accolades following his junior season of 1957.

[26] During the 1957 season, Madden caught a pass from future fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, then-teammate and Cal Poly quarterback, Bobby Beathard.

[27] Madden was drafted in the 21st round (244th overall) by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 (months before beginning his senior season at Cal Poly).

His senior year, which again saw Madden regularly start on the left side of the offensive line,[28] was cut short due to a season-ending collarbone injury suffered while making a tackle against Long Beach State in October 1958, with four games remaining on the schedule.

[19][13] Madden recounted how he became involved with coaching: "I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles — a knee injury — and I couldn't play.

[40] Madden's first Raiders squad went 12–1–1 in 1969 but lost 17–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last-ever American Football League Championship Game.

[42] One of the most frustrating playoff defeats came in 1972, when what appeared to be a last-minute AFC divisional round victory over the Steelers instead became a part of football lore when Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" gave Pittsburgh a 13–7 win.

[43] In 1974, after knocking the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins out of the playoffs in dramatic fashion, the Raiders again lost to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game.

In their third straight battle with the Steelers in the AFC Championship game, Madden's Raiders finally defeated their nemesis 24–7 to reach Super Bowl XI.

[46] The Raiders made the playoffs in 1977 as a Wild Card team, but again lost the AFC Championship Game, this time to the Denver Broncos.

[47] The Raiders enjoyed their tenth straight winning campaign under Madden in 1978 but failed to qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in his tenure.

After working lower-profile contests during his first years, he was elevated to CBS's top football broadcasting duo with Pat Summerall in 1981, replacing Tom Brookshier.

Prior to teaming with Summerall on CBS, Madden was paired with a variety of announcers, such as Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Dick Stockton, Frank Glieber, and Gary Bender.

Madden was the biggest star in football broadcasting, and Fox, ABC, and NBC made offers higher than the $2 million a year maximum for sportscaster salaries; NBC's owner General Electric (GE) offered to make Madden its "worldwide spokesman", and GE Rail would build for him a luxury train.

After he almost joined ABC,[60] Madden and Summerall, along with Producer Bob Stenner and Director Sandy Grossman -- known as the football broadcasting "A Team" -- helped establish Fox's NFL coverage,[61] Madden and that group gave Fox credibility to broadcast what Rupert Murdoch called "the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world".

[60] However, toward the end of his tenure, Fox was reportedly losing an estimated $4.4 billion on its NFL contract for the eight-year deal it signed in 1998, and it had been trying to cut programming costs as a result.

[62] In 2002, Madden became a commentator on ABC's Monday Night Football, working with longtime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels.

Madden called his final game on February 1, 2009, for Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[61] Madden got his start in broadcasting calling in to longtime San Francisco radio personality "The Emperor" Gene Nelson's show on station KYA in the 1970s while coach of the Raiders.

[73] Madden continued to pick the All-Madden team through the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC and Monday Night Football.

For defensive linemen and linebackers, it's about Jack Youngblood playing with a busted leg, Lawrence Taylor wreaking havoc on the offense and Reggie White making the other guy wish he put a little more in the collection plate at church.

[85] He made a similar appearance in the video for Paul Simon's 1972 single "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard",[86] in which he attempts to teach football fundamentals to a group of kids playing a pickup game.

During initial planning conversations with Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, Madden envisioned the program as a tool for teaching and testing plays.

Madden found an unexpected use for his bus in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when he provided transportation for former ice-skating champion Peggy Fleming, whose flight home to Los Gatos, California, had been grounded.

"[111] In addition to hosting an annual bocce tournament which raised money for both the Special Olympics and diabetes research, Madden began funding six scholarships to his alma mater, Cal Poly, for students graduating from various East Bay high schools, starting in September 2021.

[113] The facility will encompass 30,000 square feet[114] and is anticipated to open in 2029, with the entrance adjacent to the university's memorial for the 1960 airline crash victims, many of whom were Madden's friends.