creative input to the series, which were so popular that he became better known as the face of Madden to contemporary football fans than as a Super Bowl-winning coach and broadcaster, up until his death in 2021. Madden viewed the game as an educational tool. During initial planning conversations with Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, Madden envisioned the program as a tool for teaching and testing plays. He stated in 2012 that Madden NFL was "a way for people to learn the game [of football] and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level". The EA Sports series continued to use his name, iconography and licence following his death, and announced on Madden Day (June 1, 2022) that all editions of Madden NFL 23 would feature Madden on the cover in tribute of his legacy, with the next gen version cover being a picture of Madden celebrating his victory as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI and the All Madden Edition cover is based on the cover of the series' 1st installment, John Madden Football. Awards and honors NFL Super Bowl XI winner (as head coach of the Oakland Raiders) Broadcasting 16-time Emmy Award winner 1984 NSMA National Sportscaster of the Year Yahoo! Sports Top 50 All Time Network Television Sports Announcers (#2). 2002 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award winner Halls of Fame Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (class of 1991). Pro Football Hall of Fame (class of 2006) California Hall of Fame (class of 2009) 2010 NSMA Hall of Fame inductee Personal life Madden met his wife, Virginia Fields, in a bar in Pismo Beach, California, marrying on December 26, 1959. They lived in Pleasanton, California, and had two sons, Joseph and Michael. Joe played football at Brown University and Mike attended Harvard University, where he started as receiver on the football team. Madden and Virginia celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary two days before his death. Aversion to flying Madden's aversion to flying was well known, although his fear was not realized until many years into his adult life. He had lost people close to him in the October 29, 1960, California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash that claimed the lives of 16 players, the team's student manager, and a football booster. However, it was not until 1979 that he had his first panic attack on a flight originating