John Madden apparently wanted to sue Frank Caliendo over his impression, according to Charles Barkley

We loved John Madden and his bold, funny personality, but comedian Frank Caliendo’s impression of him triggered the announcer and Super Bowl winning coach.

This is all according to NBA legend Charles Barkley, who said that Madden called him once to ask him about Caliendo. It seems that Madden wanted to file a lawsuit against the comedian. Caliendo also did impressions of Barkley. But it never bothered Sir Charles.

Barkley, appearing on Barstool’s Spittin Chiclets podcast, talked about that time John Madden called him out of the blue to chew on Frank Caliendo.

“I remember this phone call I got from my agent,” Barkley recalled. “He says, ‘Hey, John Madden wants to talk to you.’ He called me, I said, ‘Hey, you’re the best. It’s an honor and a privilege.’ He says, ‘Thank you…I want to talk to you about a lawsuit I’m thinking about filing on this a**hole Frank Caliendo.’”

“I’m like, ‘what?’ He says, ‘This ***hole, have you seen the impersonation he does? I hate it and I’m thinking about filing a lawsuit.’”

Caliendo is a 49-year-old comedian who gets the most laughs when he’s skewering sports figures. You’ve seen him on Fox Sports and ESPN. And he probably got some of his biggest laughs when he’d trot out his impression of Madden and transform into someone four decades older.

Late-night host David Letterman had Caliendo on his show several times. In this clip, Caliendo put on a gray wig and answered questions as Madden. And we know that Madden loved to make food references. He told Letterman that you could put “wings on a cow and that would be a flying burger.” It’s brilliant.

Fortunately, John Madden opted not to sue Frank Caliendo

Barkley didn’t approve of a John Madden suit against Frank Caliendo. “You don’t consider that flattering?” Barkley asked Madden. “He’s like, ‘No! I don’t!’

“And now I don’t want to insult John Madden. I was like, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what, let me talk to my agent and my representation and I’ll get back to you.’ I never called him back.”

Madden coached the Oakland Raiders from 1969-78. He led the Raiders to a win over the Vikings in Super Bowl XI. As a coach, he never had a losing season in the NFL. He started working as an NFL analyst after he retired from coaching. By 1981, CBS paired him with Pat Summerall to serve as the network’s top duo. He joined Fox Sports in 1994, then in 2002, he took over the booth for Monday Night Football. And he wasn’t finished. In 2006, NBC hired him for Sunday Night Football.

Madden had his unique, blustery style of describing games. He was both an insider and an everyman. That’s why he was the voice of the NFL for generations of fans. Frank Caliendo got the John Madden nuance. We’re glad the old coach didn’t file a lawsuit.

Madden died in December, 2021. He was 85. He’d come to terms with Caliendo’s impression. The comedian made his grandkids laugh.