The sporting world is mourning the death of NFL legend John Madden, who has died at the age of 85.

The NFL announced the tragic news on Tuesday, saying Madden died unexpectedly and did not detail a cause.

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“Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

“He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others.

"There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today.”

Madden gained fame in a decade-long stint as the coach of the renegade Oakland Raiders, making it to seven AFC title games and winning the Super Bowl in 1976.

He compiled a 103-32-7 regular-season record, and his .759 winning percentage is the best among NFL coaches with more than 100 games.

But it was his work after prematurely retiring as coach at age 42 that made Madden a household name in America.

He educated a football nation with his use of the telestrator on broadcasts, entertained millions with his interjections of “Boom!” and “Doink!” throughout games, was an omnipresent pitchman selling restaurants, hardware stores and beer, became the face of “Madden NFL Football" - one of the most successful sports video games of all-time - and was a best-selling author.

He was the pre-eminent television sports analyst for most of his three decades calling games, winning an unprecedented 16 Emmy Awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality, and covering 11 Super Bowls for four networks from 1979-2009.

“People always ask, are you a coach or a broadcaster or a video game guy?” he said when was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“I’m a coach, always been a coach.”

Sporting world mourns death of John Madden

Madden started his broadcasting career at CBS, teaming with Pat Summerall to become the network’s top announcing duo.

Madden then helped give Fox credibility as a major network when he moved there in 1994, and went on to call prime-time games at ABC and NBC before retiring following Pittsburgh’s thrilling 27-23 win over Arizona in the 2009 Super Bowl.

“I am not aware of anyone who has made a more meaningful impact on the National Football League than John Madden, and I know of no one who loved the game more,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement.

Tributes have been flooding in for Madden on social media.

with Associated Press

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