John Madden thinks Will Ferrell soiled the sanctity of Spring Training

Will Ferrell is one of the greatest comedians of our time, and he did a cool thing this week by playing all 10 positions on 10 teams in one day to raise $1 million for charity. That’s pretty cool!

John Madden disagrees. Madden told CBS San Francisco, “That’s a lack of respect. That’s a lack of respect for the game and a [lack of] respect for what players have to do to get where they are.”

Madden went on to tell a cautionary tale about the Warriors’ Rick Barry’s attempt to join in on Raiders’ practice:

I’m in training camp in Santa Rosa. Rick Barry comes walking by and he was playing for the Warriors at that time. He was a friend of Al Davis’ and he said he was going to go in and suit up and go out on the field and practice, to fool Al. I swear this is true... Jack Tatum and George Atkinson walked by and I said, look, if this guy comes out on the field, he’s live bait and I want you to go after him the way you would go after any other player that plays on another team. I said, go ahead and dress, but we’re going to treat you like a football player and not like an NBA player.

It’s a good warning for someone stepping into football practice, but it makes me wonder if Madden thinks that baseball involves full-contact tackling.