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Ron Rivera wandered into the ice cream parlor on Monterey’s Cannery Row like any other teenager in the 1970s.

What he encountered changed his life. Rather, it’s who he encountered.

“Coach was there with his family after the Super Bowl,” Rivera recalled about John Madden in a recent phone interview. “I happened to see him, so I went up and introduced myself.

“He’s been there for me ever since.”

Rivera, the Washington Commanders’ coach, and a slew of other football luminaries will come to Oakland’s Coliseum on Monday night to celebrate the life of Madden, who passed away Dec. 28 at age 85.

Among those scheduled to speak: Rivera; Madden’s oldest son, Mike; Steve Mariucci, Art Shell, Andy Reid, Matt Millen, Lesley Visser and Stan Bunger, the latter of whom accompanied Madden’s morning segments on KCBS 740-AM.

Madden’s reach was vast, though his world revolved around football, especially after his playing days as a Daly City youth and a Cal Poly lineman. As the Raiders’ coach from 1969-78, he won their first Super Bowl in January 1977 and, albeit 40 years later, made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which he truly cherished for its historical preservation of the sport.

Others coveted him for his enthusiastic and common-sense approach as an Emmy Award-winning broadcasting. His notoriety grew as an advertising pitchman, and a new generation learned the Madden name via an EA Sports video game. His philanthropic endeavors, especially around the East Bay and his hometown of Pleasanton, continue even with this his memorial service, where proceeds from the $32.14 ticket go toward local youth.

Seeing thousands of fans clad in Raiders gear at the Coliseum for this honorable encore would be fitting.

Although Madden retreated from public life the past decade, he stayed involved in the NFL, offering counsel to the league’s commissioner, to coaches, and, in general, to the game in terms of rules.

Back in 2013, early in Rivera’s nine-year term as the Carolina Panthers’ coach, he sought advice from Madden. Actually, Rivera sought reassurance for doing things “by the book.”

“It’s funny because he’s the one who put me on the path to do it the right way, and he told me not to overthink it,” Rivera said. “He said to use my experience, my intuition and my gut, and that got me going.”

That advice likely will come in handy leading up to Monday night’s speech at the Coliseum. Rivera isn’t sure how to encapsulate in three or four minutes exactly what Madden meant to everyone he touched, not just him.

Rivera never played for him, but the Cal product did impress Madden during his linebacker days with the Chicago Bears (1984-92). When Rivera confided to Madden that he was playing through a fractured tibia in the playoffs after the 1990 season, Madden spread the word. “It was non-weight bearing, but he says something (on TV) and now you’re branded a tough guy,” Rivera recalled.

Rivera, 60, grew up in Marina and Seaside as a Raiders fan, although he notes he also rooted for linebacker Chris Hanburger, who played for the same Washington franchise Rivera has coached the last two seasons.

Thinking back to his teenage days, Rivera remembered when Raiders great Daryle Lamonica came to speak at Seaside High. Rivera told him in return that he’d someday be in the NFL. Add in a chance encounter with Madden at an ice cream parlor and Rivera not only had a treasured autograph that he has framed at his mom’s house but a life’s credo, to keep working hard.

Over the years, whether it was their personal phone calls or their work on the NFL’s competition committee, Madden kept working, too.

“His love of the game never wavered,” Rivera added, “and it was reflected in that committee to make sure we got the rules right.”

Now comes one more Monday night of football fanfare at the Oakland Coliseum, where Madden went 5-0 with the Raiders in home Monday night games.

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