The NFL announced that legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden, creator of the weekly soundtrack for NFL games for three decades, died on Tuesday morning. He was 85.

According to the league, he died unexpectedly and did not give a reason.

Madden made his name as the coach of the renegade Oakland Raiders, who reached seven AFC championship games and won the Super Bowl in his ten years there. He went 103-32-7 in the regular season with a winning percentage of .759, which is still by far the best among NFL coaches with more than 100 games.

However, it was his efforts after retiring as a coach at age 42 that truly made him a household name. He used the telestrator on broadcasts to educate a football nation; millions of people were entertained by his interjections of “Boom!” and “Doink!” during games; he became the face of “Madden NFL Football

He was best known for his work as a sports commentator and analyst, where he called games for more than three decades. Over the course of his three decades on air, he won 16 Emmys for outstanding sports analysis/personality and covered 11 Super Bowls for four networks.

“Are you a coach, a broadcaster, or a video game enthusiast?” he was asked after being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I’ve always been a coach.”

After leaving coaching in large part due to his anxiety of flying, he began his broadcasting career at CBS. The network’s top announcing team was formed when he joined with Pat Summerall. Madden gave Fox credibility as a major network when he moved there in 1994 and called prime-time games for ABC and NBC before retiring following the Steelers’ thrilling 27-

Madden, who was burly and unkempt, forged a place in the hearts of Americans with a pleasant, down-to-earth style that was refreshing in an age of spiraling paychecks and prima donna superstars. He traveled from game to game on his own bus because he had claustrophobia and refused to fly

“Coach was football,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “He was an incredible sounding board for me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will always be in his debt for all he did to help make the game and the NFL what they are today.”

His love for the game, his preparation, and his ability to explain an often-complex game in down-to-earth terms were all praised by friends after he folded away from the broadcast booth at NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

“No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John,” said his long time partner Al Michaels

His enthusiasm for the game was obvious to everyone who heard Madden shout “Boom!” while breaking down a play.

“For me, TV is really an extension of coaching,” Madden wrote in “Hey, Wait a Minute! (I Wrote a Book!).”

“My knowledge of football has come from coaching. And on TV, all I’m trying to do is pass on some of that knowledge to viewers.”

He was born in Daly City, California. Cal Poly bestowed upon him his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1957 and 1958, respectively.

Madden was chosen to the all-conference team and taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, but a knee problem ended his pro playing career before it began. Instead of playing professionally, Madden turned to coaching, first at Hancock Junior College and then as San Diego State’s defensive coordinator.

As head coach of the Oakland Raiders, John Madden had a brilliant 10-year run that ended in January 1978. He was hired as their linebackers coach by Al Davis after leaving Washington State in 1967, and the Raiders made it to the Super Bowl his first season in the pros. At 32 years old, he took over for John Rauch.