Today April 10, 2012, John Madden celebrates his 76th birthday. Madden accrued fame as a player and head coach in the NFL. In his 10 year tenure (1969-79) as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Madden became the second winningest head coach in the game after guiding the Raiders to their first Super Bowl title (XI) in 1977, while finishing his stint with an overall record of 103 wins, 32 loses and 7 ties – to surpass legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a head coach in 2006.

After his stellar coaching career, Madden turned his talents to broadcasting and joined CBS in 1980. Madden won 16 Emmy Awards and became one of the most recognizable voices in television, mixing high-volume enthusiasm with serious analysis on the telestrator. He did color commentary with Pat Summerall in the ‘80s and ‘90s on CBS and Fox, before becoming the lead analyst for ABC’s Monday Night Football and NBC’s Sunday night game in 2006. The popular broadcaster announced his retirement from television on April 16, 2009, simply saying “It’s time.” Madden enjoyed success on-and-off the field and continues to have a mark on the game as the face and namesake of EA Sports’ top-selling video game franchise of all time. As Madden observes another milestone in his Life + Times, we take a look at some of the Hall of Famers’ most inspiring quotes.

“Coaches have to watch for what they don’t see and listen to what they don’t want to hear.”