Madden Irving was born to be a football player, so much so, that his parents Danielle and Michael Irving actually named him after the video game franchise.
“My dad used to play “Madden” growing up and my mom said she knew I was going to be football player, so that’s how my name came about,” Irving said.
Irving has made a name for himself as one of the best running backs in the St. Louis area and will lead Chaminade into the Class 5 District 3 semifinal Friday as the Red Devils take on MICDS at 6 p.m. on the campus of Chaminade High.
Irving, who is averaging a robust 7.2 yards per carry throughout his high school career, has exceeded 200 yards rushing six times, including a 323-yard performance against Lutheran St. Charles and a 315-yard explosion against Hillsboro.
No Chaminade player had ever scored seven touchdowns in a game before Irving took the field against defending Class 4 state runner-up Hillsboro on Oct. 18. Irving scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, two more before halftime and another in the third quarter.
With under one minute to play, Irving plunged into the end zone from four yards away to break the school record on Senior Night.
“I’ve never scored seven touchdowns in a Madden game, it’s amazing I could do it in real life,” Irving said.
Sandwiched between Madden-like stat lines, Irving has been a model of consistency. He has scored at least one touchdown in all 10 games he has played this year, and over the past three seasons, he has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in 20 out of 25 games.
“When you look up the word consistency, that’s Madden, and to me, that’s what colleges should want,” Chaminade coach Antoine Torrey said. “He’s an excellent student, a hard worker in the weight room and he performs on the game field on Friday nights.”
Irving had not played football since the fifth grade when he stepped onto the Chaminade practice field as a 5-foot-7, 160-pound freshman.
He made an immediate impression.
“His first day as a freshman on this field, he walked out from the back gate and came up to all the coaches who were in a huddle and introduced himself,” Torrey recalled. “Just to have the confidence as an incoming freshman to do that I thought was impressive.”
Irving made dynamic plays in the red-white scrimmage and explosive runs in the preseason jamboree against Fox.
“We were pretty senior-heavy that year, but we knew we were going to find a way to get him on the field,” Torrey said.
In the fifth game of his freshman season, Irving had four carries for 93 yards against Granite City and had a long touchdown run called back due to a holding call. The next game against Vianney, he churned up 67 yards on nine carries.
As a sophomore, he earned the role as the Red Devils’ feature back and began his first 1,000-yard campaign with a 23-carry, 132-yard performance in the season opener against Lindbergh.
“I was nervous. I didn’t think I could do it all by myself, but I had my team behind my back and we got the job done,” Irving said.
During his junior year, the Red Devils struggled at the quarterback position and leaned heavily on Irving, who sometimes lined up in the ‘wildcat’ position. Over the final six games, Irving gained 1,142 yards and scored 15 touchdowns.
“He’s a weight room junkie. He’s as strong as an ox, so we knew he could handle the grind of that (workload). As far as his leg strength and body strength, he’s able to take those hits, get up and do it again,” Torrey said.
This season, Chaminade (5-5) is more balanced offensively and can move the ball through the air and on the ground, allowing Irving to find fewer loaded boxes.
“I think this year we’ve done better because we’re able to pass. If the defense is worried about me, we have other ways to move the ball. We can throw it or we’re able to do some decoy stuff, some misdirection, and I’ll still get my share of carries,” said Irving, who enters Friday’s game with 1,388 yards and 20 TDs.
Irving is tied for second on the Red Devils with 13 receptions, an aspect of his game he has worked to improve along with pass blocking. With the ball in his hands, he utilizes his exceptional vision and cutback ability to break off big gains.
“My vision gets better every year. I take pride in that,” Irving said. “Getting through the line is only one part of running, you’ve got to get through the linebackers and the secondary too.”
And when he gets through the secondary and into the end zone, don’t expect the variety of touchdown dances one might find in a Madden game.
“I’m not really the celebratory type. I celebrate with my linemen of course because they’re the reason I got there. I just like to run to the sideline,” Irving said.
Irving has enjoyed sharing the sidelines this season with his brother Donovan, a freshman defensive back who Madden says is sometimes reluctant to listen to his sage advice.
“I guess younger brothers don’t want to listen to older brothers, even though I’ve got all that experience. He got an interception at the end of the Hillsboro game. I was happy for him, but I can’t let him know that,” Madden said with a smile.
He added, “He’s finding his way. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.”
As for Madden’s future, he has a passion for mathematics and would like to study business, engineering or accounting while playing college football.
“It’s my dream to play in college. I just need one opportunity and I’m going to take advantage of it,” said Irving, who sports a lofty 3.7 GPA.
Irving also serves as a senior captain whose preferred leadership style is to lead by example but has become a more vocal presence on the field and in the locker room this season.
“He has an old soul,” Torrey said. “He’s very mature, almost like another assistant coach. That’s why we challenge him to lead more vocally. Things he says carry value.”
And it’s hard to put a value on the brilliant career Madden Irving has had at Chaminade, which includes 4,297 rushing yards, 42 touchdowns and counting.
Maybe that value is a 99 overall.