NBC is honoring John Madden this Thanksgiving by taking the original Madden Cruiser for one last ride

John Madden’s love of football and family came through most on Thanksgiving.

On Thursday, NBC will continue to honor Madden’s legacy when it opens its pre-drinks broadcast between the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers.

The two-minute opening features the original Madden Cruiser traveling from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, to Lambeau Field last week. It has remained in Green Bay and will also be shown during the game.

Lambeau Field was always one of Madden’s favorite stadiums, which made this year’s Thanksgiving game on NBC game even more special.

“It’s been incredible to see how John’s legacy is still so important and widespread,” said Ellie Wright, who produced the opening and was on the tour last week.

The idea to bring the bus out of retirement first came up during NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” production meetings in early June. Madden donated the Madden Cruiser to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

Hallen was totally on board with the idea of ​​the cruiser taking one last trip around the Midwest. It is a featured attraction during enshrinement week activities, but most of the year it is stored in a warehouse in northeast Ohio.

On its trip through the Midwest, the cruiser also passed through Chicago, making brief stops at Soldier Field and a Boys & Girls Club in Wisconsin before reaching Lambeau Field.

JJ Johnson, who drove for Madden for the last six years of his broadcast career (2003-08), drove the cruiser last week and narrated the opening.

“When I was driving between locations, the crew would ask me questions or I would share stories and it just brought back so many great memories. And for me, it’s honoring John in this way,” Johnson said.

After having a panic attack on a plane before calling a game in Tampa Bay in 1979, Madden would travel to games by train before Greyhound donated the first bus in 1987.

The first Madden Cruiser traveled more than 600,000 miles. It was replaced with an upgraded one in 1994 when Madden went from CBS to Fox.

There ended up being five Madden Cruisers. The Madden family has access to the last two, while the whereabouts of the other two are unknown.

Madden will be honored during all three games on Thursday. This is the third year the NFL has held the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration,” after the Hall of Fame coach and iconic broadcaster passed away in December 2021.

Madden called 20 Thanksgiving games on CBS and Fox from 1982 to 2001. He went to ABC for “Monday Night Football” in 2002 and joined NBC in 2006 when “Sunday Night Football” started, but neither network had a game on Thanksgiving.

CBS has the first game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, and Fox has the late afternoon game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL expanded to three Thanksgiving games in 2006. NBC took over the broadcast of the night game in 2012.

This is the second time Green Bay has hosted the night game and the first since 2015.

Although Madden retired from broadcasting after Super Bowl 43 at the end of the 2008 season, his influence on NBC’s games continues to resonate.

“Sunday Night Football” coordinating producer Rob Hyland, who was Madden’s replay producer when NBC regained the NFL rights in 2006, said Madden was instrumental in his development as a storyteller, not just with football , but also in the production of the Kentucky Derby and primetime coverage of the Olympics.

“John Madden was the most curious person I ever worked with, and I think his curiosity definitely rubbed off on everyone who worked with him,” Hyland said. “The way a player’s ankles are taped might look different than the previous week. He would question a lot and I discovered a lot because of his curiosity.”

In keeping with other Madden Thanksgiving traditions, NBC will award turkey legs to the game’s most valuable players and turduckens to the winning team.

Hall of Fame safety Leroy Butler, who played for the Packers for 12 seasons, has become an accomplished cook and will prepare the turkeys and turduckens, some of which will be done on the bus.

“One of our production trucks has a dedication to John on the outside of it. And when it comes to Thanksgiving, when we step out the door, go out to do our work on game day, we think of one person, we think on John, and it’s Thanksgiving, and you gotta smile,” said Johnson, who drives one of the “Sunday Night Football” production trucks. “Love of football and love of Thanksgiving, and now we’re here in Lambeau Field, et of his favorite places. I mean, this is a game he would love to broadcast. And we’re just going out with pride to do the best job we can in honor of John.”

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