John Madden, a fixture in NFL broadcasting, has retired. Though I like Madden, I was never the huge fan so many commentators on cable and sports blogs seem to be. People are never so effusive with their praise as when a recognized figure suddenly bows out.
For me, Madden was once fresh and original, but in the last decade or so has mostly coasted. Now, John Madden coasting is still better than most sports commentators, but his best days were over about the time Joe Montana hung up his cleats. When Madden started broadcasting, he was a rare cat in sports — a retired player/coach who brought an insider’s viewpoint to the game. Those days, though, are long gone. TV sports is overwhelmed with ex-professionals. So many, in fact, that the career journalist is now the exception rather than the rule. Madden’s hip insider’s talk is now the norm, and thus seems less special. These days I yearn for the color guy who speaks in complex sentences rather than the laconic insider.
Madden reminds me of Johnny Carson or David Letterman, in that he was fresh and interesting in the beginning, but faded over time. Like Carson and Letterman, he was always good, even past his peak, but in the later years I could not help but feel the best was long behind him.
One thing I admire about Madden, though — the way he went out. Madden retired in the off season, quietly, and without fanfare. He avoided the foolishness that goes with a lot of famous retirements these days — the long and tearful goodbyes, the tributes, the farewell performance. I wish John Madden would have a long talk with Barbara Streisand.
Some people retire because they decide they have enough, that the benefits of retiring outweigh the gratification of work. For them, retirement is a difficult but sensible decision. Such people rarely leave with self-congratulatory fanfare, and even more rarely appear again after retirement. Since the choice to retire is a rational decision, this type of retiree does not come out of retirement because logic does not reverse itself. There is no reason to go back on a decision that was made for the right reasons in the first place.
Other people retire out of a sense of drama. Walking away is a way to exercise control, and retirement is a grand manipulation. They enjoy the dismay, the cries of “don’t go!” from the crowd. Then they come back because only by coming out of retirement can they re-create the drama.
In my mind, Johnny Carson is the personification of the classy retirement. After over 20 years, Carson gently went into the night. There was very little showboating, painful reminiscing, and no press conferences, dramatic interviews, or book tours. He simply decided to end it, and after he left he never returned.
I don’t mean to say that once someone retires he should disappear. Only that retirement is a personal decision, and one that, if we are lucky to live so long, we all have to make. It isn’t a public show or a community celebration. It is a life change, and one that is most dignified when it is made in private.
I like that Madden made his decision privately, and without public agonizing. Many years ago, Madden made a similar decision when he retired from coaching the Oakland Raiders. He has publicly said that he never regretted the decision, and never felt the desire to go back to coaching. I respect that. He knew when he had had enough, and after he left did not dangle any public hints that he was considering a return. His choice was decisive, clean, personal, and private. And therefore honorable.
Given his track record, I do not think Madden will not be back. There will be no encore appearances, no grand retirement tours, no coming out of retirement. He isn’t that type of person, and in this age, that is truly something to appreciate.