GREEN BAY — When the Green Bay Packers open the 2009 season Sept. 13 against the Chicago Bears on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” they’ll do so without John Madden in the TV broadcast booth, as the NFL’s larger-than-life color analyst announced his retirement Thursday.

Instead, NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol said it’ll be Cris Collinsworth, who filled in when Madden took a game off last October, who will move from the network’s studio show to replace Madden, working with play-by-play man Al Michaels.

Ebersol, who called Madden “absolutely the best sports broadcaster who ever lived,” went to Madden’s California home on Wednesday in hopes of changing his mind, but “knew right away there was no way of talking him out of it,” Ebersol said.

“It’s time,” Madden said in a statement released by NBC on Thursday morning. “I’m 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. ... It’s been such a great ride. The NFL has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion — it still is. It’s still fun and that’s what it makes it hard and that’s why it took me a few months to make a decision.”

Later, on his Bay Area radio show, Madden made it clear he won’t be imitating his favorite player, former Packers quarterback Brett Favre, and unretiring. Madden also said his health is fine and wasn’t a factor in his decision.

“You know at some point you have to do this — I got to that point,” Madden said. “The thing that made it hard is not because I’m second-guessing, ‘Is it the right decision?’ But I enjoyed it so much. I enjoyed the game and the players and the coaches and the film and the travel and everything.”

Retired Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan, now the team’s chairman emeritus, said whenever the afraid-of-flying Madden’s bus, the Madden Cruiser, pulled into the Lambeau Field parking lot, there was an instant buzz around that week’s game.

“I never did get on the bus. My office used to overlook the parking lot where John would park the bus, and I’d see people getting on and off,” Harlan said. “Once that bus pulled into the parking lot at Lambeau, there was a great deal of excitement among the fans. He was very outgoing, and it was a treat when he came to town.

“Obviously, it was a highlight to be in prime-time, but once John’s bus got there, it became a special weekend.”

Madden, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, coached the Oakland Raiders to a .750 winning percentage (103-32-7, the best of any coach in NFL history) and the Super Bowl XI title.

He had worked on “Sunday Night Football” the past three seasons, and his final game, Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1, was the 11th Super Bowl he called.

After beginning his coaching career as Oakland’s linebackers coach in 1967, Madden became the Raiders’ coach in 1969 at age 33, the youngest head coach in the American Football League. Madden retired in 1979 and started his broadcasting career at CBS later that same year. Madden was the lead NFL analyst for Fox from 1994 to 2001 and the analyst for ABC’s “Monday Night Football” from 2002 to ’05 before NBC took over and made “Sunday Night Football” the league’s destination game of the week.

“My favorite time was when he and Pat Summerall were together (at CBS and Fox),” Harlan said. “They really formed a duo that was very popular with the fans. He’s going to be missed. He was a quality guy who gave some real meaning to what an analyst should do.”

Madden’s EA Sports video game “Madden NFL Football” is the No. 1 selling sports video game of all-time with more than 65 million copies sold since its release 20 years ago. Madden also is one of the leading spokesmen in the advertising world, with endorsement relationships including Ace Hardware and Outback Steakhouse.

“No one has made the sport more interesting, more relevant and more enjoyable to watch and listen to than John,” Michaels said in a statement. “There’s never been anyone like him and he’s been the gold standard for analysts for almost three decades.”

Said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement: “There is one thing football fans have agreed on for decades: They all love John Madden. ... He had an incredible talent for explaining the game in an unpretentious way that made it more understandable and fun.”

That approach will be missed by many when the Packers and Bears tee it up Sept. 13.

“I first met John while I was a player for the (Washington) Redskins, and last season had the opportunity to visit with him prior to our Sunday night game against the (Dallas) Cowboys here,” Packers president Mark Murphy said. “He really appreciates the history and tradition of the Packers and he always spoke of the specialness of Lambeau Field during the broadcasts. I know our fans enjoyed hearing him describe his appreciation for the stadium and the team.

“He had a unique ability to describe the complex strategy of the game to the average fan, and do it with great excitement. His impact on the popularity of football is far reaching, from his larger-than-life personality to his video game. We at the Packers wish John all the best.”