The Bobby Bones Show: “Lots to Say: It's a Madden Thanksgiving!”

Date: November 26, 2025
Host: Bobby Bones (with Matt Castle, Kevin, and special guests Scott Porter and Sandy Montag)
Produced by: NFL & iHeart Podcasts

Episode Overview

This episode, released on Thanksgiving week, celebrates the enduring legacy of John Madden, the NFL’s continuing “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration,” and the cultural phenomenon of Madden football. The hosts share personal holiday traditions, discuss the crossover between sports and entertainment with actor Scott Porter, and then dive deep into John Madden’s life, career, and larger-than-life impact with his longtime agent, Sandy Montag.

Key Segments & Insights

1. Thanksgiving Traditions, Football, and Family

[03:01–05:36]

• The crew shares their holiday plans, with Kevin heading to California and Bobby going to Oklahoma to visit family (and root for two different college teams due to family allegiances).
• Discussion on how weather influences the “holiday feel”—Matt’s tongue-in-cheek rule: “If your city never gets below 50, you shouldn't get to celebrate Thanksgiving.”
  — Matt Castle, [03:11]
• Recognizes the importance of family, food, and, of course, football.

2. Friday Night Lights with Scott Porter

[05:42–16:13]

A) Friday Night Lights’ Enduring Appeal

[16:06]

• Scott Porter (actor, “Friday Night Lights,” “Ginny & Georgia”) joins the show.
• The group confesses their own (sometimes partial) history with the show, highlighting its lasting popularity:
  • “Streaming extended the life of Friday Night Lights in a big way. And I don’t think any of us expected it to be handed down generationally the way it is currently.”
    — Scott Porter, [16:06]

B) Acting & Athletics – Parallels and Breakthroughs

[18:48–22:33]

• Scott shares his personal story going from football and academics to acting, emphasizing the competitive nature and parallels to sports:
  • “There is a drive that you learn through athletics that you can apply almost everywhere. There is a stick-to-it-iveness… get knocked down, get back up.”
    — Scott Porter, [27:48]
• Relates auditioning to competing in games and discusses perseverance amidst rejection.

C) Crossover Success & Reality Television

[29:45–32:44]

• Scott discusses being on “The Masked Singer,” breaking transitional boundaries:
  • “For a long time, Hollywood had rules… If you wanted to be a film actor, you could be nothing but a film actor… Now it’s such a cool world where everybody’s really allowed to do all of the things they’re good at.”
    — Scott Porter, [30:07]
• Admits to being a massive “Survivor” fan and credits competition-based reality shows as “the world’s greatest game shows.”

D) Broncos Fandom & Football Knowledge

[10:33–15:36] [33:14–40:57]

• Scott reveals he’s a life-long Denver Broncos fan (“I grew up watching Elway play in the ’80s, lose a lot of games, but just play with moxie I’d never seen before.” — [11:01]).
• He evaluates Broncos QB Bo Nix’s season with impressive detail, earning praise from the group:
  • “For some reason, it seems like there’s a clarity for Bo in the fourth quarter of games… I think I speak for all of Broncos Country, we’d love to just see that clarity for four quarters.”
    — Scott Porter, [12:17]
• Delivers his Mount Rushmore for Broncos legends: “Demaryius, John Elway, TD (Terrell Davis), Steve Atwater. If it’s not DT, it’s Shannon Sharpe.”
  — Scott Porter, [33:30]
• And for non-Broncos: “Brady, Rice, Barry Sanders, Lawrence Taylor.”
  — Scott Porter, [36:00]

E) Greatest Games Attended

[39:50–41:49]

• Top in-person games: Super Bowl 50 (Broncos win) and the Giants’ upset of the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII (“I was in the end zone as Plaxico Burress caught a touchdown to beat the undefeated Patriots… The magnitude of that game and the plays that happened in it, it was insane.” — Scott Porter, [40:57])

3. The John Madden Legacy with Sandy Montag

[53:51–79:35]

A) Life with John Madden: Stories from the Road

[55:13–58:20]

• Sandy explains how he got his start working with Madden by joining his “summer roll crew” out of Syracuse, eventually becoming his travel companion and later his agent.
• Madden’s famed refusal to fly was less about flying and more about claustrophobia (“Not fear of flying. He had claustrophobia… He would always want to be… the only person in an elevator.” — Sandy Montag, [56:47]).

B) Madden’s Unique Approach, Preparation, and Intellect

[58:20–61:22]

• Madden was regarded as “the smartest person I ever met in any subject, not just football.”
  — Sandy Montag, [56:57]
• Revolutionized game preparation in broadcasting: the first broadcaster to regularly attend practices and obsessively watch film.
• “He wanted to feel, when he was doing a game, in his mind he knew more about those two teams than any two people besides the coaches.”
  — Sandy Montag, [61:22]

C) The Birth and Impact of Madden NFL

[62:45–64:39]

• Relays the accidental genius behind the Madden video game: “We had no idea what we were getting into… John said, I’m not putting my name on a game unless it’s authentic.”
  — Sandy Montag, [62:57]
• A two-year tech challenge to represent 11-on-11 football, and neither Madden nor Montag thought it would sell, making 150 million+ units sold even more remarkable.

D) Becoming a Cultural Icon

[69:23–71:19]

• Sandy marks the early ’90s as the turning point—commercials, the bus, and especially the video game turned Madden into a household name.
• “During that time John and Michael Jordan were the two biggest things in advertising.”
  — Sandy Montag, [69:44]
• Even as the “brand” grew, Madden remained relatable and never took himself too seriously.

E) Hall of Fame and Thanksgiving Legacy

[74:28–76:27]

• Madden’s Hall of Fame induction (2006) was one of his proudest moments, highlighted by his desire to go in as a coach, not as a broadcaster (“It was the happiest day of his life besides his kids being born.” — Sandy Montag, [74:31]).
• The annual “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” began as a tribute rooted in his love for the holiday. All games feature his name, commemorative coins, and an award for player of the game (“If you’re going to honor me, this is the way I want to be honored on Thanksgiving. And I think we did get it right and it feels, it just feels like Madden.” — Sandy Montag, [78:53]).

Featured Quotes & Notable Moments

• “No place that doesn't get below 50, you shouldn’t have Thanksgiving.”
  — Matt Castle, [03:11]

• “Streaming extended the life of Friday Night Lights in a big way... It’s really a cool thing to see.”
  — Scott Porter, [16:06]

• “For me, having the athletic background actually played huge into, you know, moving into the world of acting, because every audition is a game in itself.”
  — Scott Porter, [20:09]

• “He was the smartest person that I ever met in any subject, not just football.”
  — Sandy Montag, [56:57]

• “I’m not putting my name on a game unless it’s authentic.”
  — John Madden (via Sandy Montag), [62:57]

• “If you’re going to honor me, this is the way I want to be honored on Thanksgiving.”
  — Sandy Montag (on John Madden), [78:53]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Thanksgiving Traditions: [03:01–05:36]
• Scott Porter joins; Friday Night Lights & football fandom: [10:33–41:49]
• Acting, music, and crossover success: [18:48–32:44]
• Mount Rushmore for Broncos/All-Time NFL: [33:14–36:55]
• Madden’s travel and preparation: [55:13–61:22]
• The creation and impact of Madden NFL: [62:45–64:39]
• Madden as American icon: [69:23–71:19]
• Thanksgiving Celebration origins and meaning: [76:27–79:28]

Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is warm, humorous, and nostalgic, blending football analysis with heartfelt stories and cultural reflections. The camaraderie between co-hosts and guests is evident, peppered with friendly ribbing, “insider” sports talk, and genuine admiration for both the athletes and entertainers at the table.

For Listeners New and Old

This episode is a celebration—of family, football, and the way one coach-turned-broadcaster-turned-video-game-icon shaped how generations enjoy Thanksgiving and the NFL. Whether you’re tuning in for sports, pop culture, or simply some holiday comfort, “It’s a Madden Thanksgiving!” delivers plenty to be grateful for.