NBC Football Night in America analyst John Madden and his Madden Bus won't be parking in Tampa this Sunday.

NBC Football Night In America analyst John Madden will not be in Tampa to broadcast the Bucs-Seahawks game, per Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

Madden travels to his games via the “Madden Cruiser” because of his widely-known fear of flying. Doing Sunday’s game in Tampa would require Madden to travel a significant distance from his home in California. Yesterday’s NBC telecast featured the Patriots and Chargers in San Diego. This decision presumably would allow Madden to return home in Northern California and spend extra time there.

Chris Collinsworth will substitute for Madden in the booth.

It appears Madden, per his contract with NBC, is allowed to have a week off. Since next Sunday there will be no NFL football on Sunday night due to the World Series (hopefully played at the Fruitdome in St. Petersburg), taking this week off will give Madden essentially a two-week break.

The main reason Madden chose not to be in Tampa is it would be the second cross-country trip for Madden in as many weeks. Oct. 5 Madden called the Steelers-Jaguars game in Jacksonville. This past Sunday Madden was in San Diego for the Patriots-Chargers game.

Madden does not fly, but takes his Madden Bus.

It just seems kind of odd that the Madden Bus is bankrolled by Outback Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse is headquartered in Tampa.