In case you needed to hear another opinion about Will Ferrell playing every position, coaching and taking some hacks in actual (but exhibition) Cactus League games Thursday afternoon, Hall of Fame football coach and former broadcaster John Madden is your huckleberry.

Madden, who's in semi-retirement but offers his opinions periodically on Bay Area radio, has come out against Ferrell's stunt. For being a guy known for understanding how to have fun while at work, Madden wasn't having any fun with Ferrell's nonsense. From KCBS:

"I hate it," Madden said. "That's a lack of respect, that's a lack of respect for the game, I think, and a respect for what players have to do to get where they are. There's no easy way, and there's no 'jump' and all of that stuff. I've never believed in that type of stuff."

John Maddon
John Madden to Will Ferrell: 'Boo!' — not 'Boom!' (Getty)

And get off my lawn! One of the hosts interjected by comparing what Farrell was doing with golf events like the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where actor Bill Murray has been known to goof around. That's different, Madden says, because tournaments like that have a tradition going back to "Bing Crosby." Hey, has Madden not seen Garth Brooks and Billy Crystal take real swings at spring training before?!

Proving he was giving an earnest take, Madden told an old story about NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry coming to practice one day in the 1970s when Madden was coach of the Oakland Raiders. Barry, a friend of owner Al Davis, told Madden he was going to suit up in full pads and play a joke on his buddy.

OK, Madden said, but only if the Raiders could treat Barry like any other player in practice.

"I swear this is true," Maddon said. "At this exact time, Jack Tatum and George Atkinson come walking by and I told them, 'If this guy comes out on the field, he's live bait. I want you to go after him the way you would go after any other player that plays on another team. Not like an NBA player.' "

To Jack Tatum and George Atkinson, Madden said this. Not kidding. So he repeated to Barry what the deal was. Go ahead and suit up, but do so at your own peril. And did Barry end up suiting up?

"What do you think?" Madden said. "He stayed out of the pads and the joke was over.

"If you come between these lines, then you have to live with the laws that we set."

Here's Maddon's full interview with KCBS:

Madden. He's not a baseball guy, he's a football guy, and football guys are different than baseball guys. More serious, and tough, and mean, and they'll knock you on your behind if you're not ready. Were he a major league manager, Madden probably would have ordered one of his pitchers to throw at Ferrell. WHAP!

And some of the Cubs might have been listening:

In fairness, Madden is 78 years old and possibly drifting into that irascible stage of life, where everything is bad. His take is not wholly unreasonable, but it's also possible he wasn't fully able to envision what Ferrell was trying to do. (When I wrote about it yesterday, I had mixed feelings.) But so far, Ferrell's adventure has been fun. It's obviously intrusive for guys training for their livelihoods, but it's not like he's really taking someone else's opportunity, as Madden implied. Paraphrasing John Goodman's character in "The Big Lebowski," Will Ferrell didn't bring a dog bowling league game. He's not renting it shoes. He's not taking someone's turn, Dude.

Well, OK, maybe he took one guy's turn. But even after Farrell batted for Matt Szczur of the Chicago Cubs at one point (and struck out), Sczcur was allowed to stay in the game. He really didn't lose anything substantive. That's how "official" these Cactus League games are. They're not.

Perhaps Madden is right, and Ferrell was showing a lack of "respect" for hard-working baseball players. But there are other lessons to be learned by Farrell's stunt: One would be to not take yourself too seriously. Even at work.

Will Ferrell makes actual throw
Will Ferrell makes an actual throw in a real (exhibition) game. (USATSI)