On Wednesday, Nov. 11, the movie Madden was released in select theaters and tells the life story of late Cal Poly alum John Madden. Nicolas Cage stars as Madden, a role that required prosthetics to better portray his physical appearance.
The movie comes just five months after the John Madden Football Center opened on Cal Poly’s campus. Cal Poly even retired Madden’s No. 74 jersey during halftime in its season opener against Idaho, making this a year of tributes for the sports legend.
Madden is best known as a decorated NFL coach, sports commentator, and the namesake of the popular Madden NFL video games.
What fewer people may know is his time as a Mustang. At Cal Poly from 1957-1959, Madden played two seasons on the football team and one season on the baseball team.
He earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in Education from Cal Poly. Due to injury, he never played in a regular-season NFL game, leading him to later endeavors in coaching and broadcasting.
While the movie focuses on Madden’s post-grad life, the Central Coast played a major role in his life and, therefore, in some parts of the movie.
Madden met his wife, Virginia, in Pismo Beach while in school, and the two got married in Santa Maria in 1959. She is played by actress Kathryn Hahn in the film.
The movie also features Madden’s choice to drive instead of fly after he developed a fear of flying, partially attributed to losing teammates in the 1960 plane crash involving the Cal Poly Football team.
Madden will be available to stream on Nov. 18 on Amazon Prime Video.