The average true football fan probably can dedicate three percent of their vocabulary to John Madden. In fact, John Madden 101 is probably more educational for today’s kids than what their teachers are blabbing. They may be in school for seven hours a day, but their attention may be there for thirty minutes of that. When they are playing Madden against friends, they are concentrating every second.

John Madden, a legend before most of our times, and yet has transformed the world of football more than any coach in NFL history. Nobody can breakdown plays better than he can. Anyone can break down a play by the books, but Madden is creative with his perspective views. He will notice the strangest things and make them into perfect sense.

His energetic knowledge is what helped revive Monday Night Football, and is why NBC pursued him with mega dollars. Everything in Madden’s life has something to do with football, and his love of the game will never go away.

Who would have thought, that true love could turn into business? When he first started out as a commentator for CBS in the 80’s, the contract definitely was probably a chump salary at best. As the revenue in sports grew, so did the video game era. It was perfect timing, and Madden jumped on the idea of having his name branded with a football game.

From day one, he wanted it as realistic as can be. None of this cyber ball type video game, where it looks like marching band members moving to spots on the field. He was behind the scenes, and a mastermind into developing and clearing errors in the game play.

The game has grossed remarkable sales and has shown no signs of ever having a challenger. The Gameday’s, Quarterback Club, and the Joe Montana football games never stood a chance in surviving against Madden. Its fan base is too strong and devoted to ever change over.

A non-sports fan will try to argue that Madden looks the same every year. That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Every year new features and little noticeable things are added to make the game even more realistic. It is so smooth the way it has been constructed, and that is why a non-football fan cannot open their eyes to the smaller things changed.

The loyalty will never go away. It is like candy canes on a Christmas tree, to a previous Madden purchaser. It will be in their Xbox or Playstation come the release date. Put it down with the annual doctor visit, because it is a routine yearly check off.

When your buddies are ready for a tournament, the only question is who is bringing the copy and how many extra controllers are needed.

It is the only game that does not need to be tested, or see if your friend has. If a friend has it and you go to over to challenge, you will be blown out. Then you will exit out and head to the closest store, and quietly practice at home to hone your skills.

The preparation of playing the game by yourself is needed, if you want to compete with serious Madden gamers. The infamous Madden Challenge has grown into a huge national success, and furthermore on internet game play.

I will not argue I was one of many Madden fans that purchased ESPN’s NFL2k5 last season. It did offer a few different aspects, but it is overall functioning and game play was not near Madden. It quickly became buried and an after thought whenever video game play was needed.

Madden 06’s release is right around the corner. For the ump-teenth time I will grab another copy.

The creator in John Madden deserves much more attention than what he gets. The game could have became sloppier when the dollar sign became involved, or Madden could have easily exited calling games and lived a prosperous quiet retirement. Instead, neither his announcing or business side has fell off. His tireless work continues to prove his excellence in the football world.