72 Inspiring John Madden Quotes from the American Football Coach

John Madden was a famous American football coach and TV commentator known for his impact on the NFL.

After a knee injury ended his potential playing career Madden became a successful coach leading the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl victory in 1977.

Later he became a beloved football analyst winning 16 Emmy Awards and known for his unique commentary style and fear of flying which led him to travel in a custom bus called the “Madden Cruiser.”

John Madden Quotes

Madden also lent his name to the popular video game series “Madden NFL” which helped increase football’s global audience.

He co-wrote several best-selling books about football.

Below are some of the most inspiring quotes by John Madden.


Inspiring John Madden Quotes

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Don’t worry about the horse being blind, just load the wagon. ~ John Madden.

I’ve never eaten just a few bites of things I liked in my life. ~ John Madden.

When you have great players, playing great, well that’s great football! ~ John Madden.

I’d like to work with kids in special education – younger kids. ~ John Madden.

He got up looking out of his earhole! ~ John Madden.

Boom, boom, foom, poom! He just ran right at ’em! ~ John Madden.

He would have scored a touchdown if he hadn’t been tackled right there. ~ John Madden.

Here’s a guy who can use his arms and legs at the same time. ~ John Madden.

The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break. ~ John Madden.

Well, when you’re playing good football, it’s good football and if you don’t have good football, then you’re not really playing good football. ~ John Madden.

Winning is a great deodorant. ~ John Madden.

Best John Madden Quotes

Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble. ~ John Madden.

Knowing his coach likes him is more important to a player than anything else. ~ John Madden.

If a guy doesn’t work hard and doesn’t play well, he can’t lead anything. All he is, is a talker. ~ John Madden.

I’m sure that had I not been a coach, I would have been some form of a teacher. ~ John Madden.

I would have all my offensive linemen wrestle if I could. ~ John Madden.

There’s a lot of letters in Ladanian Tomlinson ~ John Madden.

Mark Brunell usually likes to soak his balls before a rainy game. ~ John Madden.

The defense should be expecting a run or a pass here. ~ John Madden.

He might want to watch where he lands when tackling that guy, because he could really hurt his hand if it gets stepped on. ~ John Madden.

Famous John Madden Quotes

They’ll score if they can just get into the endzone. ~ John Madden.

It’s a big deal. ABC and MNF are a big part of NFL history, and it’s going to end with the Super Bowl (on ABC). You can’t say you’re not looking forward to it . ~ John Madden.

The only yardstick for success our society has is being a champion. No one remembers anything else. ~ John Madden.

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Give something that wasn’t expected. ~ John Madden.

Coaches have to watch for what they don’t want to see and listen to what they don’t want to hear. ~ John Madden.

If you look at tailgating, everyone does it. It’s for everyone who likes to cook outdoors. It could be a 4th of July picnic. ~ John Madden.

If the quarterback throws the ball in the endzone and the wide receiver catches it, it’s a touchdown. ~ John Madden.

Discipline in football occurs on the field, not off it. Discipline is knowing what you’re supposed to do and doing it as best you can. ~ John Madden.

If someone remembers me as a coach, they still call me ‘Coach,’ but if they know me for the video game, they just call me ‘Madden.’ ~ John Madden.

You know, there’s a rule in sports, don’t do anything great if you can’t handle the congratulations. ~ John Madden.

From the waist down, Earl Campbell has the biggest legs I have ever seen on a running back. ~ John Madden.

Playing in this nice weather really makes me remember all the times I got stung by a bee. ~ John Madden.

The best feeling is watching a real football game, because the games they show in the movies aren’t real. ~ John Madden.

Some yards is better than none yards? ~ John Madden.

Memorable John Madden Quotes

You can’t win a game if you don’t score any points. ~ John Madden.

I’ve got five grandkids. They play baseball, they play football, they play basketball. I go to all the games. You always have that urge to say something when you’re watching them. But I’ve learned to keep it to myself. I’ve blurted out some things and embarrassed myself. ~ John Madden.

In all the years that I’ve been in football – I went directly from coaching to broadcasting – I never really had a lot of experience watching it. ~ John Madden.

In order for this team to win the game, the quarterback has to throw the ball. ~ John Madden.

At the end of the game the team with the most points on the board is going to win. ~ John Madden.

Real frontier-busting math explores new worlds . . . if you can communicate that experience, somewhere between math and uncertainty, life experience provides the balance. ~ John Madden.

I’ve always said winning’s the great deodorant, and conversely, when you have a bad record – everything stinks – and everything starts to unravel, and everything falls apart. ~ John Madden.

There was a hidden narrative I felt we could get into, It’s about an accessible world. Family and relationships are accessible subjects. ~ John Madden.

Inspirational John Madden Quotes

The best way to gain more yards is advance the ball down the field from the line of scrimmage. ~ John Madden.

There’s so many kids who only know me from the video game. ~ John Madden.

I wasn’t saying that in a sense that I didn’t plan on scoring any goals. This won’t happen again. It would be nice if it did, but it’s reality. ~ John Madden.

If you lose your best cornerback and punter, I’d say that’s a double loss. ~ John Madden.

It takes about three times as long to explain to someone why you won’t give them an autograph as it does to actually give them an autograph. ~ John Madden.

Every time I go to the theater, there’s something about the atmosphere, seeing something unfold live in front of an audience, that you can’t get out of your system. ~ John Madden.

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To me, discipline in football occurs on the field, not off it. ~ John Madden.

If you think about it, I’ve never held a job in my life. I went from being an NFL player to a coach to a broadcaster. I haven’t worked a day in my life. ~ John Madden.

The best thing about getting older is knowing history. The longer you live, the longer you have been in a sport, the more you know, and the more you know where things started. ~ John Madden.

The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer. ~ John Madden.

Powerful John Madden Quotes

In Oakland, Al Davis was a genius. We had Ron Wolff there, too, and he was a genius. There was no room for me to be a genius. ~ John Madden.

I get a certain feeling when I go to Lambeau field in Green Bay. Soldier field in Chicago is special to me. Those are the places that I really like. The stadiums. ~ John Madden.

I respect coaches; I respect what good coaches do. I know that you don’t learn to be a coach in an hour and a half. ~ John Madden.

When its raining the field gets wet, then all of a sudden everyone’s running slower ~ John Madden.

You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the endzone. ~ John Madden.

If you see a defense team with dirt and mud on their backs they’ve had a bad day. ~ John Madden.

Nothing jazzes me up like football. I’ve acquired more passion of the years, not less. Not to love it wouldn’t make sense. ~ John Madden.

The greatest gap in sports is between the winner and the loser of the Super Bowl. The winner has confetti, parades, rings, the whole thing. The loser puts his head down and goes to his house. ~ John Madden.

I always used to tell my players that we are here to win! And you know what, Al? When you don’t win, you lose. ~ John Madden.

If you play the video game, you become more interested and you want to know more about it. You want to read as much about it as you can, see it live and watch as many games as you can. If you’re the type who wants to be as involved as you can in the sport, you’re probably going to want to play ‘Madden NFL.’ ~ John Madden.

That’s the biggest gap in sports, the difference between the winner and the loser of the Super Bowl. ~ John Madden.

Positive John Madden Quotes

I think comparisons are odious. ~ John Madden.

Whenever you talk about a Mike Shanahan offense, you’re always going to be talking about his offense. ~ John Madden.

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If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. ~ John Madden.

See, well ya see, the thing is, he should have caught that ball. But the ball is bigger than his hands. ~ John Madden.

When your arm gets hit, the ball is not going to go where you want it to. ~ John Madden.

As I look back now on my coaching career, I think of my family, I think of the days that we spent together. I say this to coaches everywhere: If you ever have a chance to take your kids with you, take them. Don’t miss that opportunity. Because when it’s all over and done with, when you look back, those are going to be your fondest memories. ~ John Madden.

There is a difference in being in shape and being in football shape. Any one can out on the field and run around , but once you start getting hit and have to get up then you find out the difference between being in shape and football shape. ~ John Madden.

Usually, the team that turns the ball over less will hold on to the ball more ~ John Madden.

Here’s a guy who when he runs, he moves faster. ~ John Madden.


So these were the 72 top John Madden quotes on coaching, football, life and winning.

If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Alice Walker quotes and Sojourner Truth quotes.

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Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar