The NFL loses its voice

By John McMullen  |   Sunday, April 19, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

NFL Football News
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!

In a world filled with people looking for friends on Facebook and Tweeting on Twitter, "Madden" refers to the most popular video game ever produced.

The real John Madden is a Hall of Fame coach and the best color commentator in the history of sports.

Harry Kalas was a Philadelphia institution, the voice of the Phillies since 1971, best known for his signature home run call of "outta here." Kalas also just happened to be the voice of NFL Films.

Football lost them both last week.

Of course, one was far more tragic than the other. Kalas collapsed and died of a heart attack in the nation's capital last Monday before a Phillies game with the Washington Nationals, while Madden simply called it quits three days later in order to spend more time with his family.

Madden began his broadcasting career in 1979 in low-level games, then he was paired alongside Pat Summerall in the 1980s and 1990s on CBS and later FOX. He then moved on to ABC's
"Monday Night Football" before finishing his storied career as the color guy to Al Michaels for NBC's "Sunday Night Football."

Madden's lively, unorthodox delivery quickly won him critical acclaim. Euphemisms like "Boom!," "Whap!," and "Doink!," coupled with his use of the
Telestrator made him a star and earned him 14 different Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst.

Talented mimic Frank Caliendo lampooned Madden's ability to connect with the casual fan and became a bigger star for it, and then there was that video game. Madden lends his voice, personality and name to a series of football video games published by Electronic Arts, which inevitably are one of the top-selling games in the world each and every year.

"John Madden is an icon in the game of football and he will be sorely missed in the homes of the millions of people he entertained week in and week out," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "As a broadcaster, the one thing that stood out about John was the immense respect he had for the integrity of the game.

Being a Hall of Fame coach, he understood the hard work, energy and passion the coaches and players put forth to be able to compete in the National Football League. I will personally miss working with him prior to the broadcasts of our games. As a young head coach, he was very generous in letting me pick his brain about our profession and I will always be grateful to him for that. May we all push the seven-man sled as well as he had done in his 73 years!"

Kalas, meanwhile, took over at NFL Films for the legendary John Facenda and didn't wilt in his massive shadow. In fact, the company grew and became even more respected.

Some even credit NFL Films and the way it packages and sells the game as the key reason football surpassed baseball as the real national pastime in the United States.

"In the 46 years of NFL Films, we have worked with two of the greatest voice-over talents in television history. John Facenda was the ‘Voice of God’ and Harry Kalas was the ‘Voice of the People,’" NFL Films president Steve Sabol said.

"His substance was his style. There was no shtick, just a steady blend of crisp articulation and resonance. In many ways, Harry is the narrator of our memories. His voice lives on not only on film, but inside the heads of everyone who has watched and listened to NFL Films."

The NFL, like life, will keep moving forward without Madden and Kalas.

The league won't lose its fans, its revenue or its ratings.

It did, however, lose its voice.
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans! (1)

About John McMullen

John is the managing editor of The Phanatic Magazine, the assistant managing editor of The Sports Network and the co-host of the highly rated 'Johns on Sports' radio show on WTBQ in New York. Every Saturday from 6:30-9 p.m. (et) you can hear John along with his co-host, John Gottlieb, talk to the ...
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report