Who Is John Madden’s Wife? A Look at Virginia Madden

John Madden is one of the most memorable figures in the history of NFL football.

The legendary former Oakland, now Las Vegas, Raiders lead skipper compiled a mind-boggling record of 103-32-7 during his 10-year stint as head coach. Madden endured many playoff heartbreaks, losing four consecutive AFC Championship games at one point. But he finally slayed the dragon with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

Madden retired shortly after that and embarked on an equally successful career in broadcasting. The Pro Football Hall of Famer’s voice became synonymous with high-stakes football games. And he became beloved for his boisterous exclamations, off-the-wall phrases, and his revolutionary use of the telestrator, using the latter to unpack just how he saw a play unfold for the viewing public.

Madden was also known for being a regular feature during the league’s Thanksgiving Day games. At the conclusion of these games, he would bestow the “Galloping Gobbler Award,” typically in the form of a turkey leg, to standout players. Madden’s presence has been sorely missed by the football-loving public since his passing in late 2021.

And it also leaves one to wonder about those he left behind, like his wife Virginia Madden.

Who Is Virginia Madden?

John’s union with his wife, Virginia, predates even his coaching career. The couple tied the knot in December 1959, the day after Christmas, according to The U.S. Sun. Shortly thereafter, John would become an assistant coach at little-known Allan Hancock College in California.

Information in the public sphere about Virginia is fairly scarce. This decades-old Sports Illustrated article divulges that she met her husband at a bar when the two were students at California Polytechnic State University back in the 1950s. But she says they just as easily could’ve missed one another.

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“He always says that [they met at school as undergrads],” Virginia said. “The fact is, we met in a bar in Pismo Beach. But it wasn’t as if we hung out in bars. If we hadn’t both been there on that one day, we’d probably never have met.”

The article notes that Virginia has palpable energy and a great sense of humor, unsurprising traits given what we know of the man she married. It also mentions her proclivity towards antiques. The more ornate the better.

To that end, the article notes how when one first enters the then-Madden household they are greeted by an “ornate, glass-fronted Victorian cabinet, which is filled top to bottom with footballs, game balls every one.”

The article goes on to mention the pair’s uncanny chemistry, developing an ability to communicate wordlessly during their decades together. John passed just two days after the pair’s 62nd anniversary, leaving behind a wife, two sons, and countless other people whose lives he touched.

That’s a fact that certainly isn’t lost on his wife, Virginia. A fact she made abundantly clear during a memorial for the legendary ball coach in February of last year per ABC 7 News.

“I know he’s up there, and I know he’s smiling down on all his players … and all you people, the fans, that supported him for so many years,” she said. “John believes in the town of Oakland, he believed in the [Oakland] Coliseum, and most of all, he believed in the Raiders.”

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