The Voice Mail Message From John Madden That I’ll Never Forget
By Tom Coughlin, 12/30/21, New York Times

John Madden loved football. He loved the game and the competition,
and he shared that passion with everyone who tuned in for the
3 decades he was on the air, myself included. But for all his contributions over a legendary career, John was a football coach first.

Those who know him from TV — or even from video games — may not
remember that John made his name as head coach for the Raiders,
where he coached for 10 seasons before turning in his sun visor
and whistle for a sport coat and a mike. He looked at the game differently from many, bringing the competitive nature of the
sport and the quality of the game into focus. A coach’s primary
job is to prepare a team — physically, strategically and
emotionally — to have the best opportunity to win on a weekly
basis, game in and game out. Even after the Raiders, John still
looked at football that way.

I first got to know John during my time as an assistant coach
with the Giants in the 80s, when he was doing commentary for the
networks and would come to Saturday morning practices for
production meetings, and then later when I served on the Madden
committee that John led. Its official name was the “coaches subcommittee,” but that really didn’t encapsulate what it was.
It was John’s committee. The committee recommends to the N.F.L. Competition Committee changes in rules & matters of significance
— basically, all things that will help improve the quality of
the game. The one thing you could always count on with John was
that he would have an opinion about whatever was being discussed.
His unceasing focus was the integrity of the game and the safety
of the players. And whether he was discussing ways to protect a
player’s head or the role of an 8th official, those spirited conversations shaped the field of play for the better.

But when I think of John, it’s deeply personal. I think about
the Giants’ 2007 regular season & a call I got from him that
has become part of football lore.

As we approached the end of that season, our playoff position
was secure after beating the Buffalo Bills, & our last game was
against the undefeated New England Patriots. There had been a
great deal of discussion by media people who didn’t think I
should risk playing our starters. The division about whether we
rest our players or go all in was real. By Monday night, I decided
we'd play our starters & we were playing to win. History wouldn't
record that we didn't do our best. Even though we lost, 38-35,
the game proved to me & our team that we could play with the best.

I'll never forget walking into my office at 5 a.m. that Sunday
after losing, seeing that red light flashing on the phone &
listening to the voice mail message that was waiting for me
from John. What he said truly exemplifies how he felt about the
game. It meant so much to me, I copied it down verbatim.

John said:

“Just called to congratulate you and your team for a great
effort last night. Not good, but great. I think it's one of
the best things to happen to the N.F.L. in the last 10 years,
& I don’t know if they all know it, but they should be very
grateful to you & your team for what you did. I believe so
firmly in this: that there's only one way to play the game, &
it's a regular-season game & you go out to win the darn game.
I was just so proud being a part of the N.F.L. & what your guys
did & the way you did it. You proved that it’s a game & there’s
only one way to play the game & you did it. The N.F.L. needed it.
We’ve gotten too much of, ‘Well, they’re going to rest their
players & don’t need to win, therefore they won’t win.’ Well,
that’s not sports & that’s not competition. I’m a little
emotional about it. I’m just so proud.”

I replayed it for the coaches and later on in the week for the
team because that’s the kind of gravity John’s words carried.
That was what football was all about for him — the quality of
play, the character of the player and how the game was played.
John lived and breathed football. He believed it is the greatest
game and devoted his life to ensuring it always would be.
John’s call reaffirmed the belief that you do give honor and
glory to the Giants and to the N.F.L. by the way you come to
play and compete.

When John was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he was full of
emotion and said: “I believe that the busts talk to each other.
I can’t wait for that conversation, I really can’t.

“Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Reggie, Walter Payton, all my
ex-players, we’ll be there forever and ever and ever talking
about whatever. That’s what I believe. That’s what I think is
gonna happen, and no one’s ever gonna talk me out of that.”

I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall on Tues after
his death, listening to John’s conversation with those greats,
with other coaches like Don Shula and Bill Walsh. John was
definitely blessed with a unique gift when it came to football,
and the impact he had on the game and on all of those who love
it will live on for generations.
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Tom Coughlin was the two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach
of the New York Giants and is the founder of the Tom Coughlin
Jay Fund Foundation, which provides support for families
tackling pediatric cancer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/opinion/john-madden-nfl.html