John Madden retires

NEW YORK (AP)—John Madden’s last game as a football announcer was a thrilling Super Bowl decided in the final seconds.

The perfect ending to a run as one of sports’ most popular broadcasters, now that Madden called it a career Thursday. Yet it didn’t fit Madden’s style to think about his retirement that way.

“I’m a grinder,” he said on his Bay Area radio show. “You just grind and get through it and when it’s all over, you think about it. You don’t rush into any decisions.”

Madden’s exuberance for football and blue-collar persona endeared him to TV viewers for three decades. Boom! As sudden as his signature call, he’s leaving midway through a six-year contract with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

“I think his work ethic and passion and love for the game made him apart from everybody else,” said longtime broadcast partner Pat Summerall.

Madden said his health is fine, but at the age of 73, he wanted to spend more time with his family. His 50th wedding anniversary is this fall, and his five grandchildren are old enough to notice when he’s gone.