I was an early Madden’s player. I remember buying the original 1990 version as well as Joe Montana Football for the Sega Genesis and playing them both until 3 AM. I had “Down with Madden since 1992” as a tagline in my bio; I’d actually been playing it longer, of course, but it was good line from the 2000 theme song by Ludacris.
I was so good at it that whenever I was challenged by someone who thought he was good – a teenage friend of the family, an Italian Army captain – I didn’t just beat them, I usually destroyed them with scores in the 63-0 range. But I gradually lost interest in the annual updates around 2006, as the 2005 version was the last one I remember playing much on the then-new machines before switching back to my favored version of 2003 on the PS/2. All the improved graphics on the newer machines were essentially lost on me, as the advances in graphics seemingly came at the cost of gameplay and gimmick features.
So, I’m glad I dropped out of Team Madden before this latest SJW abomination, which is so much of a woke joke that the current players almost unanimously hate it.
Colin Kaepernick’s Overall rating
2016: 74
2020: 81
It’s fascinating to see how not playing for four years can improve a quarterback’s performance. On the other hand, as one wag put it, why shouldn’t EA reward him for not having another four-INT game since the last game of the 2016 season.