Who Did John Madden Share The Booth With?

John Madden shared the booth with Gary Bender for two years (1979-1980) at the CBS Sports. Bender was Madden’s first play-by-play partner.

The 1969 PFW AFL Coach of the Year award winner was an NFL coach and a legendary sports commentator. His name is used by the popular football game Madden NFL series, where he was featured a record twelve times on the cover.

He played college football for Oregon Ducks, College of San Mateo, Grays Harbor College, and Cal Poly Mustangs.

Likewise, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted the OT as the 244th pick in the 1958 NFL Draft. A knee injury during the training camp ended his playing career before it took off.

He became an assistant coach at the Allan Hancock College in 1960 and their head coach in 1962. He was San Diego State Aztecs’s Defensive Coordinator from 1964 to 1966.

Oakland Raiders hired him as an LB coach in 1967 and promoted him to an HC in 1969. During his tenure as an HC from 1969 to 1979, he won Super Bowl XI and had a regular season record of 103-32-7.

Who Was John Madden Broadcast Partner?

John Madden broadcast partners were Gary Bender, Vin Scully, Pat Summerall, Frank Glierber, Vene Lundquist, Dick Stockton, and Al Michaels.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer started his television journey with Gary Bender in 1979. He then partnered with Vin Scully for four games in 1981.

Likewise, Scully also filled in the play-by-play role at CBS. Verne Lundquist also worked with Madden as a fill-in commentator.

Madden was also paired with Frank Glieber and Dick Stockton on some occasions.

Pat Summerall

Summerall hailed from Lake City, Florida, and attended the University of Arkansas from 1949 to 1951.

He played as a placekicker, tight end, and defensive end for the Razorbacks.

He was the 45th pick in the 1952 NFL Draft and played for the Detroit Lions (1952), Chicago Cardinals (1953-57), and New York Giants (1958-61). He made 100 field goals in 212 attempts, with a 50-yard FG being his longest FG.

The 1952 NFL Champion joined the WCBS (AM) radio as the morning host in the early 1960s. After spending a few years as a radio host, CBS Sports hired him as a color commentator in 1962.

He was teamed up with Chris Schenkel, Jim Gibbons, Jack Buck, Ray Scott, Steve Stone, and Tom Brookshier. A 1981 pairing with John Madden lasted 22 seasons before Summerall announced his retirement in 2003.

During that time, he worked for Fox Sports (1994-2002). He announced Suoer Bowls for both networks, becoming among the fewest people to do so with two major networks.

In total, he called a record 16 Super Bowl matches. 

Al Michaels

Al needs no introduction, as he has been the voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Football since 2006.

Michaels worked for KHVH-TV, announced play-by-play for Cincinnati Reds, and Winter Olympics in his initial days.

ABC Sports hired him in 1977. He covered the World Series, Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball.

In 1986, he was included in the ABC’s Monday Night Football crew as a play-by-by announcer. He was stationed in that role for twenty years till 2005.

He worked alongside Jim Lmpley, Dan Dierdorf, Frank Gifford, Boomer Esiason, Dennis Miller, Dan Fouts, and John Madden.

After MNF moved to ESPN in 2006, Michaels and Madden switched networks. The two worked together from the ABC days till 2009 before Madden called it quits. They were partnered for eight years.

Likewise, Al was part of Thursday Night Football in 2016, and again in 2022, Amazon hired him for the play-by-play role in TNF. He is paired with Kirk Herbstreit.

John Madden Broadcast Career

John Madden broadcast career started in 1979 when CBS Sports acquired him as the color commentator. He was paired with Gary Bender.

The dynamic duo of Bender and Madden worked together as a play-by-play and color commentator pair for the 1979 and 1980 seasons.

In 1981, he was teamed up with Pat Summerall. The two handled the booth till 1993. Their final broadcast for CBS was the 1993 NFC Championship game between the Dallas Cowboys (38) and the San Francisco 49ers (21) on the 23rd of January 1994.

The electrifying and agile announcers established their name in the sports broadcasting industry as the best.

After CBS lost its NFL rights, Madden joined Fox Sports in 1994 and earned over $2 million in annual salaries. His broadcasting partner, Summerall, joined him.

Madden worked for the network till 2002.

John joined Monday Night Football in 2002

Likewise, ABC Sports hired him for Monday Night Football in 2002. He made $5 million annually.

After working at the MNF for four years, John moved to NBC’s Sunday night NFL games in 2006. Joining ABC made him the first broadcaster to work with all the ‘Big Four’ U.S. sports networks.

He announced games for the network till the 2008 NFL season. The Austin, Minnesota native broadcasted Super Bowl games for all four networks, the first to announce SB for the ‘Big Four’ networks.

He covered 11 Super Bowl matches during his illustrious career.

In his outstanding 31-year broadcasting career, he won sixteen Emmy Awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality.

Regarded as the GOAT of sports broadcasting, the lively, fun, and in-depth knowledge of the game was his best weapon. 

John Madden Final Broadcast

John Madden’s final broadcast game was the Super Bowl XLII. The February 1, 2009 fixture was played between the Pittsburgh Steelers (27) and the Arizona Cardinals (23).

The match was played at the Raymond James Stadium in front of 70,774 people. Santonio Holmes, the Wide Receiver of the Steelers, won the Super Bowl MVP trophy.

Al Michaels was the booth partner of Madden for that game. Alex Flanagan and Andrea Kremer were the sideline reporters.

Best NFL Announcers Of All Time

Best football announcers of all time include John Madden, Al Michaels, Pat Summerall, Dick Enberg, Paul Christman, Curt Gowdy, Jack Buck, and Cris Collinsworth.

Dick Enberg

Enberg’s real name was Richard Alan Enberg. He was from Mount Clemens, Michigan, and served as a sportscaster from 1960 to 2016.

The Central Michigan University and Indiana University alma mater was known for his catchphrases ‘Oh, my!’ and ‘Touch ’em all.’

The play-by-play commentator started his broadcasting career with KTLA TV and KMPC radio. He also announced boxing matches in his early days.

From 1975 to 1999, he was affiliated with NBC Sports and covered NFL, MLB, NBA, U.S. Open Golf, college basketball, tennis, boxing, college football, horse racing, and Olympic games.

In 1979, he got his first play-by-play role. He announced eight SBs for the network.

CBS recruited him in 2000 for NFL games and other sports, while ESPN acquired his services from 2004 to 2011 for tennis coverage.

For his excellent sportscasting work, he won 12 Sports Emmys and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Emmy.

Jack Buck

Jack started calling AFL games in 1962. He was affiliated with ABC during those that phase.

CBS hired him in 1964, and he then started announcing NFL matches. In 1967, he called dedicated team games for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.

Likewise, he dropped dedicated team commentary and jumped into regional games in 1974. He called multiple NFC Championship games, Super Bowl IV, and the 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic.

From 1978 to 1984, Buck was part of the Monday Night Football on the CBS radio. He returned for a second tenure from 1987 to 1995.

At the end of his career, his Super Bowl broadcasting count for CBS radio reached 17.

Apart from football, he is most known for his broadcasting job for the St. Louis Cardinals. His son, Joe Buck, is also a sportscaster and works as a play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s MNF with Troy Aikman.

Other highly regarded names in the NFL broadcasting field are given below:

  • Howard Cosell
  • Don Criqui
  • Van Miller
  • Al DeRogatis
  • Chris Schenkel
  • Marv Albert
  • Lindsey Nelson
  • Tom Brookshier
  • Frank Gifford
  • Don Meredith
  • Jim Nantz
  • Lindsey Nelson
  • Charlie Jones
  • Brad Sham
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