John Madden’s love of football and family came through the most on Thanksgiving.
On Thursday, NBC will continue to honor Madden’s legacy when it opens its broadcast before the nightcap between the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers.
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The two-minute open features the original Madden Cruiser traveling from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, to Lambeau Field last week. It has remained in Green Bay and will also be featured during the game.
Lambeau Field was always one of Madden’s favorite stadiums, which made this year’s Thanksgiving game on NBC game even more special.
“It’s been unbelievable to see the way John’s legacy is still so important and prevalent,” said Ellie Wright, who produced the opening and was on the trip last week.
The idea of bringing the bus out of retirement first came up during NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” production meetings in early June. Madden donated the Madden Cruiser to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Hall was all in on the idea of the cruiser taking one final ride around the Midwest. It is a featured attraction during enshrinement week activities, but most of the year, it is stored in a warehouse in northeast Ohio.
On its trip through the Midwest, the cruiser also went through Chicago, where it made a brief stop at Soldier Field and a Boys & Girls Club in Wisconsin before reaching Lambeau Field.
J.J. Johnson, who drove for Madden for the final six years of his broadcast career (2003-08), drove the cruiser last week and narrated the opening.
“As I was driving between locations, the crew would ask me questions, or I’d share stories, and it just brought back so many fond memories. And, for me, it’s honoring John in this way,” Johnson said.
After having a panic attack on a flight before calling a game at Tampa Bay in 1979, Madden would travel to games via train before Greyhound donated the first bus in 1987.
The first Madden Cruiser traveled more than 600,000 miles. It was replaced with an upgraded one in 1994 when Madden went from CBS to Fox.
There ended up being five Madden Cruisers. The Madden family has access to the last two, while the whereabouts of the other two are unknown.
Madden will be honored during all three games on Thursday. It is the third year the NFL has had the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” after the Hall of Fame coach and iconic broadcaster died in December 2021.
Madden called 20 Thanksgiving games on CBS and Fox from 1982 through 2001. He went to ABC for “Monday Night Football” in 2002 and joined NBC in 2006 when “Sunday Night Football” started, but neither network had a game on Thanksgiving.
CBS has the first game, between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, and Fox has the late afternoon matchup between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
The NFL expanded to three Thanksgiving games in 2006. NBC took over broadcasting the night game in 2012.
This is the second time Green Bay has hosted the night game and the first since 2015.
Even though Madden retired from broadcasting after Super Bowl 43 at the end of the 2008 season, his impact on NBC’s games continues to resonate.
“Sunday Night Football” coordinating producer Rob Hyland, who was Madden’s replay producer when NBC got back NFL rights in 2006, said Madden had a significant role in his development in terms of being a storyteller, not only with football but in producing the Kentucky Derby and prime-time coverage of the Olympics.
“John Madden was the most curious person I’ve ever worked with, and I think his curiosity has definitely rubbed off on anyone that’s worked with him,” Hyland said. “How a player’s ankles are taped may look different than the previous week. He would question a lot, and I discovered a lot because of his curiosity.”
In keeping with other Madden Thanksgiving traditions, NBC will award turkey legs to the game’s most valuable players and turduckens to the winning team.
Hall of Fame safety Leroy Butler, who played for the Packers for 12 seasons, has become an accomplished chef and will prepare the turkeys and turduckens, with some being done on the bus.
“One of our production trucks has a dedication to John on the outside of it. And when it comes to Thanksgiving, when we step out the door, we’re going out to do our jobs on game day, we think of one person, we think of John, and it’s Thanksgiving, and you have to smile,” said Johnson, who drives one of the “Sunday Night Football” production trucks. “Love of football and the love of Thanksgiving and now we’re here in Lambeau Field, one of his favorite locations. I mean, this is a game he would love to broadcast. And we just go out with pride to do the best job we can in honor of John.”
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