John Madden Was More Important Than You Know

The NFL is one of the biggest juggernauts in American culture. Madden helped make it that way.

Box art for Madden 2004

That John Madden, who died yesterday at the age of 85, was enormously popular was easy to see while he was alive, and has been even easier to see now that he’s gone. But what may not be quite as obvious about Madden is that he was…