maybe, just maybe madden had enough sense to know that the guys on the hill should stay out of the broadcast booth, and he should stay out of politics!  too bad most of the liberal clueless in the entertainment industry won't follow that lead!!

"i believe he will not stop until we are all jobless, homeless, hungry, and cold!"

I'm pretty sure that if Madden came out as a conservative, these same folks would be screaming at him to shutup and stick to sportscasting.

Hey brainiac, knowing your job and doing it is good for society.

Hey Harry, Maybe he wanted to sell games and comment on football to an audience vastley larger than you New York Slimes! If NFL had commenters like you, Soccer would be much more popular.

Liberals are poison, they kill everything they touch, even babies.

Yes, John Madden should have spoken out against the poor sportsmanship, racism, violence, and criminal activities of the black  football players.

The first rule of teamwork is to do your own job.

A sportswriter who demands political punditry or celebrity activism is a guy who doesn't understand his own job. His job is not to cure the nation through sportswriting. Howard Cosell thought the same way. He looked down on the athleticism and competition of sports, and only cared about the celebrity of it. He wanted to exploit the celebrity, to influence people to vote his way ... not through principled reason or winning arguments, but by playing on the voters willingness to throw their vote to the most popular.

He thought he was being "principled" when he wanted athletes to exploit their celebrity for political causes. That's not irony, though. That's stupidity.

...PITA liberals who couldn't mind their own business if their life depended on it, and who feel that they have a right to claim the time (as well as the money) of others.

John Madden belongs to John Madden. He doesn't owe society a thing.

Mr. Madden has lived his life as he wished, and along the way has done far more for the sport of football than just about anyone else I can think of. Hell, he has probably forgotten more about football than most people will ever even know.

What is more is that this man has probably created far more employment opportunites, both directly and indirectly, than the New York Times and Harvey Araton ever even thought about creating.

I consider Mr. Madden to be a larger-than-life national treasure, right up there with Richard Petty and the dearly departed Justin Wilson.

Had Mr. Madden not actually existed, somebody would have had to come along and invent him.

I think it very fitting that the last TV broadcast of his remarkable career was a Super Bowl.

So long, John. Us true fans of the game are going to miss ya.

-Dave

So in this fool's opionion, Madden should have gone all Olbermann?

That's worked out well. 

My understanding is that in real life, Madden is a boor who could hardly care less about people in general. 

Don't you just love how liberals love to whine and moan and groan about what other people ought to do?  As I began this post, I shall end it....sheesh!

I hope he fails, too.

This guy's comments about Madden are part of a larger debate, particularly in the education community. The "liberals" believe that teaching in a classroom should be a platform for left-wing opinion, while others believe a classroom shoud be politically neutral. Problem is that the politics gets out of control and the real job never gets done. This is why our kids are so ignorant of facts. I applaud Madden for having stayed with what he was paid to do. He was an "expert" in his field and he showed it. When people wanted football, they tuned in Madden.When they wanted politics, they went elsewhere. That's the way it shoud be. Educators should take a lesson from Madden in this.

BTW, suppose Madden had said on the air that he is a pro-life conservative. Would the NYT encourage that? I think not.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

I am reminded why I no longer read the NY Times.

I'm afraid if Araton effs up the one sports enjoyment left in life, Pro football, he will have to be chained to the basement wall untill next February.