April 16th, 2009 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
It’s been an eventful day in the NFL off the field, as long-time announcer and Hall of Famer John Madden has announced his retirement from announcing NFL games. The 73-year-old’s final game as an announcer was last years Super Bowl as the Steelers beat the Cardinals 27-23 in Tampa Bay.
The void left by Madden was quickly filled, as award-winning analyst Cris Collinsworth was named the replacement for Madden. He’ll do the color with Al Michaels on NBC’s Sunday night broadcasts, the network announced today during a conference call.
According to NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, Madden endorsed Collinsworth as his successor. “You have Cris,” Madden told Ebersol. “He’s the best broadcaster out there.” Collinsworth has won eight Emmy awards.
If your thinking of a three-man booth with Madden leaving, forget it, as Ebersol said that NBC isn’t interested in putting another announcer in the booth. “We’ve been lucky enough to have these men at the height of their power,” Ebersol said. “There is no need for that.”
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Madden was extremely smart to get into the video game industry