John Madden Takes a Hint, Hits the Showers

A couple months ago, Wall Street Journal took a critical look at John Madden, concluding, if not in quite so many words, that it was time for the sportscasting legend to surrender his lapel mic before advancing age got the better of him.

Yesterday, Madden signaled agreement, announcing his immediate retirement. "It's time," he said. "I'm 73 years old." (NBC Universal Sports chairman Dick Ebersol was quick to note that Madden had come to that conclusion on his own -- apparently to defuse the inevitable speculation that the network, or health problems, had forced him into retirement.)

I asked Futterman -- whose not-so-subtle allusions to Madden's senescence I unpacked here -- whether he deserved credit for making Madden see the obvious. His answer:

That would be like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise. He's a great announcer, a legend. It's a tough job, speaking like that live for three hours, a lot tougher than what I do, which is probably why there are more writers in their 70s than NFL color commentators.