Madden joins NBC football crew

NEW YORK, June 15 (UPI) -- John Madden will be part of the broadcast team for "NBC's Sunday Night Football," the network said Wednesday.

Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, said the network had signed a six-year deal with Madden -- who has won a record 14 Emmys for outstanding sports analyst/personality.

"John Madden is the best analyst in the history of the National Football League and, in my opinion, the best analyst of any kind in sports television history," Ebersol said.

Madden -- who coached the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl championship in 1969 -- has been broadcasting football games for more than 25 years. He was an analyst on Fox telecasts from 1994 to 2002, and most recently worked as a "Monday Night Football" analyst on ABC.

"I have been doing this a long time and when I went to ABC to do 'Monday Night Football,' I thought I would finish my career there," said Madden. "But when the NFL did this new television deal, I looked at 'NBC's Sunday Night Football' package, and I thought this really fits me well."

NBC won the TV rights to "Sunday Night Football" earlier this year.