 His father, an auto mechanic, moved the Madden family to Daly City, California, a town just south of San Francisco, when John was young.He attended Catholic parochial school with John Robinson at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, graduating in 1950, and then Jefferson High School, graduating in 1954.A football star in high school, Madden initially played one season at the College of San Mateo, in 1954, before he was given a football scholarship to the University of Oregon, studying pre-law, and playing football with boyhood friend John Robinson.