Perhaps no person loved Thanksgiving more than John Madden. After serving 10 seasons as the head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, Madden began the part of his career that led him to be the most recognizable name in football. As the color commentator for NFL broadcasts for the next 30 years, Madden’s love of Thanksgiving popularized the “Turducken,” a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, stuffed into a deboned turkey. Following his death, the NFL now honors Madden every Thanksgiving. The entire tripleheader of games is dubbed the "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration."
Despite winning the Raiders’ first Superbowl, never having a losing season, and having the most wins in Raiders franchise history, he is better known as the mind and voice behind the Madden NFL video game franchise. Instead of simply drawing up plays during broadcasts, he helped generations learn about football and how to use progressively more complex playbooks through gameplay.
This week, we talk turkey, playbooks, CX, and football with friend of the show and Raider fan, Andrew Rios.
We discuss:
- Thanksgiving Traditions
- Assessing Team Dynamics and Experience
- Balancing Work and Family During the Holidays
- Gratitude and the Importance of Frontline Workers
- Team Member Development
- The Value of Tough Conversations
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
Music courtesy of Big Red Horse
© 2025 Happitu, LLC. All rights reserved.