Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that no one “lived a more beautiful football life” than Madden.
“I am not aware of anyone who has made a more meaningful impact on the National Football League than John Madden,” Jones said in a statement, “and I know of no one who loved the game more.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted that Madden was known as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and a broadcaster who worked for every major network, but said that he was also devoted to his family.
“He was football,” Goodell said. “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.”
Vin Scully, a sportscaster who called Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers games for 67 years, said Madden was “one of the all-time greats.”
“He showed me the ropes during our brief football partnership,” Scully wrote. “He was always kind and delightful. He can now join his former partner, Pat Summerall, in calling Super Bowls in heaven.”
The Raiders, now based in Las Vegas, said in a statement that “the Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of the legendary John Madden.”
“Few individuals meant as much to the growth and popularity of professional football as Coach Madden, whose impact on the game both on and off the field was immeasurable,” the Raiders said.
Other NFL teams said Tuesday night that Madden’s broadcasts helped bring the game to life for fans listening and watching at home.
The Philadelphia Eagles said on Twitter that Madden’s words brought the team’s actions “vividly into the homes and hearts of our fans everywhere.” And the New York Jets said in a statement that “on the field, in the booth or through a console, John Madden’s greatness added so much to the sport.”
Former and current players in the league described the importance of Madden to their careers.
Andrew Hawkins, a former wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, said on Twitter that “every NFL player grew up dreaming of the day they could see themselves on” the hugely popular video game Madden NFL, made by Electronic Arts.
Hawkins said that Madden “not only expanded the reach of football, he motivated a generation of athletes, no matter where they grew up, to reach their goals.”
Richard Sherman, who appeared on the cover of the 2014 release of the video game that bore Madden’s name, thanked the broadcaster for “years of joy and motivation.”
Louis Riddick, a former NFL player and current football analyst on ESPN, described him on Twitter as “transformational” and “generational.”
“These words are too often used inappropriately when talking sports personalities in general,” he said. “It is appropriate to use when talking about John Madden.”
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes simply called him a “legend.”
Sports journalists and broadcasters reflected on the role that Madden played in shaping their lives and careers. John Clark, an NBC sports reporter in Philadelphia, said that, for him, Madden was “the soundtrack of the NFL.”
“When I started covering the Eagles, and we would go to road games, and see the Madden cruiser out in front of the stadium,” he wrote on Twitter, referring to the vehicle he traveled in to avoid using airplanes, “we knew it was a big one.”
Madden’s legacy, many said, extended beyond football and broadcasting and reached into the video gaming world, where generations of gamers grew up on Madden NFL, a multibillion-dollar staple for Electronic Arts.
Julian Rignall, a gaming journalist known as Jaz, wrote that Madden’s video game series “basically enabled me to learn, understand and ultimately fall in love with the sport of American football.”This article originally appeared in The New York Times.