Fox Sports promoted its documentary on John Madden so much in recent weeks that one almost expected Madden himself to come bursting through the television screen, old Miller Lite ad-style, to remind you about it. "Don't forget, Christmas Day, 2 p.m.! I'll bring the turducken! Bam!" Turns out the hype was justified. The documentary, "All Madden," was as likable as its subject, the rumpled, impossibly charismatic everyman who found great success as a coach, broadcaster, pitchman, and video game namesake. A few thoughts and observations on the doc, which is co-directed and executive produced by Tom Rinaldi: ▪ Madden is 85 now. He retired from broadcasting after the 2008 NFL season. He hadn't done an extensive on-camera interview in more than a decade. So it's a joy and a relief to see and hear him again and realize that, while he looks older and talks a little slower, he's still the same engaging personality we remember. ▪ It's a testament to his enduring popularity that those interviewed in the documentary are essentially a Who's Who of sports media and the NFL for the last 50 years. Joe Montana beams when he's shown a clip of Madden and Pat Summerall calling Super Bowl XVI between the 49ers and Bengals in January 1982. Advertisement ▪ Bill Belichick is charming (that's right, charming), his respect for NFL history and Madden's place within it shining through. He also has the most on-point description of Madden in the entire film: "When you look at John, you don't mistake him for anybody else. You can see this guy a mile away." ▪ Bill Parcells, naturally, had a great line, too: "[He was] a little disheveled from time to time. Everything is not always in the right spot." ▪ Madden, who turned to broadcasting because, in his words, "I didn't think what they did was doing it the right way," called a rehearsal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum with a particularly youthful partner in 1979. "He looked like a 12-year-old kid," recalled Madden, "And I thought, 'What am I going to do with this guy?" Then he heard Bob Costas go to work. "This is the little guy I rode over with? Holy moly, this guy's really good." Advertisement ▪ I hadn't realized that Madden had other broadcast partners before being paired with Summerall in 1981, forming a tandem whose skills complemented each other better than any other broadcast pairing in NFL history.