Madden family to light Al Davis’ torch and Madden Cruiser tours at the game this weekend
Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL lost arguably their biggest icon, John Madden.
Every home team got to honor Madden with either a moment of silence or some other form of recognition. Unfortunately, the Raiders – the organization where the coach/broadcaster/video game mogul got his start – we’re not able to be one of those teams as they had an away game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Granted, Las Vegas did honor him in the best way he could have imagined, beating the Colts 23-20 and keeping their playoff hopes alive. And owner Mark Davis held a ceremonial torch lighting in Madden’s on the day he passed.
But even so, the Silver and Black didn’t get an opportunity to honor the first head coach to win them a Super Bowl on a national stage like some of the other teams in the league did. However, they’ll get that moment this weekend and they’re making the most of it.
The Raiders announced yesterday that John’s wife, sister, sons, daughters-in-law and grandsons – Virginia, Judy, Mike, Joe, Susie, Wendy, Jesse and Jack – will light the Al Davis Memorial Torch prior to the team’s primetime matchup against Los Angeles Chargers.
As I’m sure many of you know, the torch is a tribute to the godfather of the Raiders, Al Davis, and has been ceremoniously light before by an alumnus or member of the organization’s community before each home game since Davis’ passing. It symbolizes his quote: “the fire that burns brightest in the Raiders’ organization is the will to win,” and who was the first person to ignite the flame? None other than Madden himself back in 2011.
Las Vegas is also offering fans with a ticket to the game an opportunity to view the outside and tour the inside of the famed Madden Cruiser, the bus he’d take around the country while broadcasting primetime NFL games. Raider Nation will also be able to visit an interactive timeline display of the football icon’s life and sign structures to share their thoughts and memories about the legendary coach.
However, the best way for the Raiders to honor Madden is to do it the same way they honored him last week, with a huge win.
In other Raiders’ links:
- Ladies of darkness, and positivity?: a recent study from Bookies.com found that female Raiders fans are positive about the team 25.3 percent of the time compared to just 22.3 percent from their male counterparts.
- Derek Carr 11th-most marketable star: the Action Network recently released a story that Las Vegas’ quarterback is just outside of the top-10 among NFL players for marketability.
- The boy is back!: after getting released on Wednesday, the Will Compton 3.0 era has officially begun as the Raiders resigned him after placing Marquel Lee on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
- Bosa continues to throw shade at Carr: “I’m a fan of him. I think we get along. I was just pointing out something that I noticed. When he gets pressured, he seems to shut down a little bit. Seems like a lot of quarterbacks do that. … He’s one of the top passers in the league,” said the Chargers’ pass rusher when asked about his previous comments surrounding the Raiders’ quarterback handling pressure.