Doug B
Footballguy
You're right -- I overlooked Madden's Lite beer commercials. There was a time when he was a bigger name for those than he was for broadcasting.I don’t think it’s accurate to say John Madden hasn’t transcended football. He was big in the early Miller Lite commercials, he’s had the biggest selling sports video game for forever (and most kids only know him for that), and Frank Caliendo made a whole career out of impersonating him even years after Madden retired as an announcer.
I'm being a stickler about non-television stuff and not giving him credit for the Madden video game franchise (same as me not giving Eucker, Patrick, and Bradshaw credit for their film roles). Point granted, however, about more kids today are exposed to Madden through the game series than anything else.