Madden Cruiser heads to the Dolphins-Packers game in Lambeau

Part of John Madden’s legacy appears to be rolling into Green Bay for the Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field.

“The legendary Madden Cruiser is on the move” and will be seen during NBC’s broadcast of the Miami Dolphins vs. Green Bay Packers game on Thursday at 7:20 p.m., as the Pro Football Hall of Fame posted on its social media late last week accounts published.

An appearance by the famous 40-foot bus in Green Bay was also announced during NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast of the Philadelphia Eagles-Los Angeles Rams game.

The former Oakland Raiders coach and NFL broadcaster, who died in 2021, had a Greyhound bus converted into his Madden Cruiser in 1987 to travel conveniently from game to game and avoid air travel. Four more Madden Cruisers followed over the course of his broadcasting career, but he donated the original to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 2018.

Shortly thereafter, the interior was restored to its original condition with amenities considered state-of-the-art technology at the time, including two color televisions, a telephone, an intercom, a citizen radio, two laser disc players, a VCR, stereo system and built-in vacuum cleaner.

A video on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s YouTube channel that shows Madden giving a tour of the bus is from a visit to Green Bay in 1991, when he invited a sports reporter from WBAY-TV to come in and talk to view the amenities, including a kitchenette with an oven for cooking a turkey, a private bedroom and space for four additional people in the living area.

“It’s coming down. “Boom, there’s a bed,” Madden said. “This is coming out. Boom, there’s a bed.”

The bus ride also allowed Madden and his crew to discover great little places to eat. In Green Bay, he particularly liked Los Banditos East and Chili John’s. Steve Mariucci, former San Francisco 49ers head coach and Iron Mountain, Michigan native, once ate pies with Madden on his bus while in Green Bay.

In January 2022, the Madden Cruiser traveled from the Pro Football Hall of Fame to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as the Raiders paid tribute to Madden following his death.

Jersey patches and a pregame coin toss will honor Madden during all three Thanksgiving games

Since his death, the NFL has honored Madden every year with the all-day John Madden Thanksgiving celebration in all three games. In addition to the Dolphins-Packers, this year’s Thanksgiving games are Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions on CBS and New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys on Fox.

According to NBC Sports, every game begins with the same video of Madden talking about how much he loves football, family and turkey on Thanksgiving.

NBC Sports also reports that all six teams will wear Madden patches on their jerseys. The coin used for the pre-game coin toss features his silhouette as a head and a turducken (a chicken stuffed into a deboned duck stuffed into a deboned turkey), which he made known as tails.

According to NBC Sports, the MVP of each game will receive a Madden Trophy and select a high school or youth football program to receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation.

More:The NFL announces halftime entertainers for Thanksgiving games, including Lindsey Stirling for the Dolphins-Packers in Lambeau

More:At The Green Bay House, Packers game day tailgates are a bucket list item and giving back to veterans is a tradition

Jordan Love somehow missed Madden’s postgame turkey leg tradition last Thanksgiving

It was Madden who started the tradition of the player or players of the game receiving a turkey leg or piece of turducken after winning a game played on Thanksgiving. He gave defensive end Reggie White the first turkey leg after the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. The Turducken came in 1997.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love was not offered a turkey leg for some reason after the Packers beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving last year, a move that angered some Packers fans.

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