Quotes from John Madden

Nobody, not even the head coach, would do anything to the football unilaterally, such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball, without the quarterback not knowing. It would have to be the quarterback's idea.

Since 1981, I've spent every Thanksgiving Day broadcasting a game, and it is one of my favorite days. You can say, 'Woe is me, I never get to be part of the tradition,' or you can say, 'Heck, we've got our own tradition, and it's pretty good.'

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.

I'd like to work with kids in special education - younger kids.

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

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

I'm sure that had I not been a coach, I would have been some form of a teacher.

That's the biggest gap in sports, the difference between the winner and the loser of the Super Bowl.

Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear.

Here's a guy who can use his arms and legs at the same time.

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

This offense is all about scoring points.

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

at the end of the game the team with the most points on the board is going to win.

The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.

Don't worry about the horse being blind, just load the wagon.

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

Never mind the horse's blind, just load the wagon.

There definitely needs to be water on the sidelines for these players, but I also had some Gatorade just in case they were allergic to the water or vice versa.

I seldom go to restaurants where you need a reservation, or where you need to get dressed up. If you need a reservation, it's too crowded.

You wouldn't do something for a receiver to catch the ball if the quarterback couldn't throw it.

We need to let the referee's sole thing be to protect the quarterback and get those late hits out of there. They even have a stat on television that says 'knockdowns.' Knockdowns means that you knock him down after he throws the ball. The assumption is, if it's legal, we'll make excuses for them.

Discipline is knowing what you're supposed to do and doing it as best you can... On third down and short yardage, the Raiders don't jump offside. That's discipline - not a coat and tie, not a clean shave.

I tried golf for a while, but I wasn't very good at it, so I didn't play a lot of golf. I enjoy all sports, not just football. I like basketball, baseball, and I got into the World Cup. So really, sports in general are my life, and football specifically.