Explore Quotes by John Madden

To me, discipline in football occurs on the field, not off it.

We need to let the referee's sole thing be to protect the quarterback and get those late hits out of there. They even have a stat on television that says 'knockdowns.' Knockdowns means that you knock him down after he throws the ball. The assumption is, if it's legal, we'll make excuses for them.

When the going gets tough, I'm not always sure what you do. I'm not saying that I know how to fix everything when the going gets tough, but I do know this: when the going goes tough, you don't quit. And you don't fold up. And you don't go in the other direction.

One of the biggest gaps in sports is the difference between the winning and losing teams of the Super Bowl. They don't invite the losing team to the White House. They don't have parades for them. They don't throw confetti on them.

If you win a Super Bowl before you're fired, you're a genius, and everyone listens to you. But a coach is just a guy whose best class in grammar school was recess and whose best class in high school was P.E. I never thought I was anything but a guy whose best class was P.E.

There's so many kids who only know me from the video game. And they want to know if I'm home - and if I have a video game I can give them on Halloween. And sometimes they're surprised to learn there actually is a 'Madden.'

at the end of the game the team with the most points on the board is going to win.

Every time I go to the theater, there's something about the atmosphere, seeing something unfold live in front of an audience, that you can't get out of your system.

I get a certain feeling when I go to Lambeau field in Green Bay. Soldier field in Chicago is special to me. Those are the places that I really like. The stadiums.

I'm sure that had I not been a coach, I would have been some form of a teacher.

If you think about it, I've never held a job in my life. I went from being an NFL player to a coach to a broadcaster. I haven't worked a day in my life.

I'd like to work with kids in special education - younger kids.

The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.

I think comparisons are odious.

The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break.

If you see a defense team with dirt and mud on their backs they've had a bad day.

That's the biggest gap in sports, the difference between the winner and the loser of the Super Bowl.

Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear.

When your arm gets hit, the ball is not going to go where you want it to.

Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.

The only yardstick for success our society has is being a champion. No one remembers anything else.