Today, the National Football League has lost one of its all-time greats.
The league has just passed down the word that John Madden, the legendary coach who would go on to be a legendary broadcaster and the face of the most popular football video game franchise of all time, has passed away at the age of 85.
Madden, a native of Austin, Minnesota, grew up in California after his family moved out there in his youth. He was a college football star at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and was drafted in the 21st round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, but suffered a knee injury that caused him to leave the sport as a player before he was able to take the field.