2025 NFC West All-Madden Team Per Position Predication

“Don’t worry about the horse being blind...just load the wagon.” John Madden

I’ve been thinking of John Madden a lot recently. Having had the extremely privileged opportunity to work for the iconic coach and broadcaster and the CBS Electronics team during the summer of 1993, it was the ultimate learning experience for me in terms of understanding three things:

1. The game of football.
2. NFL quality Xs and Os.
3. Recognizing the traits that make certain players a cut above most of the others.

Let me take you back to the afternoon in August where I sat in utter awe at John Madden’s kitchen table on one of the upper stories of the Dakota building in New York City overlooking the upper reaches of Central Park.

Topics of discussion:

1. Coach’s two rings: his Super Bowl ring on one hand and the 100 in diamonds ring that his lovely wife had custom made for him after he became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win 100 games. John Madden was married to three entities: (a) his wife; (b) the game of football; (c) winning.
2. Coach’s philosophy of always installing the most sophisticated new plays during the first couple of days of training camp —- “because I figured those were the days when the players’ minds were the freshest.”
3. Coach’s offensive philosophy of attacking the weak side of defenses.
4. Coach’s favorite player while coaching the Raiders —- to hear him rave about this player for nearly 20 minutes was one of the most compelling inside look as to the mental and physical fortitude that makes certain players so spectacularly special.

Here are the NFC West players whom I believe John Madden would pick as his favorites:

* HC: Sean McVay, LAR. John Madden was the youngest coach to win 100 games. He was able to accomplish that historic feat in 10 seasons. With 12 wins this season, Sean McVay would have 100 wins in 9 seasons (although * seasons were 14 regular-season games when Madden coached). Madden was 33 when the Raiders shocked the NFL world by promoting him to HC in 1969. McVay was 30 when he was hired by the Rams as the youngest head coach in NFL history.

John Madden’s career record --- 10 seasons: 103-32-7 regular season, 9-7 post-season.

Sean McVay’s career record --- 8 seasons: 80-52 regular season, 8-5 post-season.

Note: John Madden never had a losing season, and he continues to hold the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who have coached at least 100 games.

* QB: Brock Purdy, SFO. In yesteryears Coach would have picked Matthew Stafford, but Brock Purdy’s rise from pick #262 in the 2022 draft that resulted in him beating out the 49ers prize 2021 #3 pick Trey Lance, for whom the franchise gave up 3 first round picks --- is an NFL Cinderella story of epic proportions. Purdy is the classic underdog and Coach sure loved classic underdogs.

Plus, look at how...