Tag: Madden 21

Watch: Aaron Rodgers welcomes Davante Adams to Madden’s #99Club

Aaron Rodgers welcomed Davante Adams to Madden’s 99 Club

Aaron Rodgers surprised his favorite receiver, Davante Adams, on Wednesday, with quite the post-Christmas gift.

The Packers’ great quarterback was in on the fun as he delivered a bejeweled 99 Club Madden necklace to the wideout.

“It’s about time,” Rodgers said. “Finally getting the due you deserve, my man.”

“One-seven is officially in the 99 Club,” Adams said.

“I think that necklace is the same color as a jacket you might be wearing here in about a decade or so. I hope you like that color, because it looks good on you,” Rodgers said, referencing Adams’ potential to be a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Per Packerswire.com:

Adams joins Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in the “99 Club.”

Adams began the season at 94 overall. He’s been bumped up one point overall five different times and was most recently improved to 98 overall in Week 13.

In just 13 games this season, Adams has 109 catches for 1,328 yards and an NFL-high 17 touchdowns. He caught three more touchdown passes against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

 

Mekhi Becton, Braden Mann leading AFC Pro Bowl voting at their positions

Jets rookies Mekhi Becton and Braden Mann are leading the AFC at their positions in fan voting for the 2021 Pro Bowl after one week.

While there’s a huge difference between Mekhi Becton and Braden Mann, they both could be headed to the Pro Bowl in their first season in the league.

Becton leads all AFC tackles in fan voting with 41,193 votes, while Mann leads all AFC punters with 26,248 votes.

While Becton has played just seven of New York’s 10 games, he’s proven to be one of the best players at his position already. He has helped keep Joe Flacco and Sam Darnold’s blindside clean while being an immovable force in the run game for Gang Green.

As for Mann, the sixth-round pick out of Texas A&M is averaging 44.8 yards per punt. The rookie punter leads the NFL in punts, but of those 50, only three of them have gone for touchbacks. He also leads all NFL specialists in tackles.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Pro Bowl will be held virtually as a week-long event. The Pro Bowl rosters will be featured on Madden 21 as a part of an alternative event. The fan vote started on Nov. 17 and will end on Dec. 17.

In a lost season, the Jets don’t have a lot to hang their hats on, but the play of the rookies, specifically Becton and Mann, is something they can use as a building block for the future. Even though they’re winless, fans around the league have taken notice.

Madden 21 roster updates make Myles Garrett dominant

Garrett got even better in EA Sports latest ratings update

The latest Madden 21 update has arrived and the Cleveland Browns have a few movers and shakers on the list. Although the game is terrible to play, it is still fun to track. Here are a few of the most noticeable risers and fallers on the Browns:

Risers

Wyatt Teller- The right guard moved up an impressive three points from 79 to 82 and I’m not really sure why considering he didn’t play last week and is unlikely to come back against the Raiders.

Myles Garrett- Garrett is a dominant force both on the real-life field and the virtual one and his already high rating got a two point boost going from 95 to 97. Garrett is the highest rated Cleveland Brown.

JC Tretter- Teller isn’t the only offensive lineman to get some love this week as Tretter also saw his rating move up two points from 81 to 83. This bump makes more sense though considering Tretter actually played.

Fallers

Kendall Lamm- EA Sports took two points from Lamm as he went down from a 68 to a 66. Lamm only played six snaps against Cincinnati last week and all of them were on special teams, so this demotion seems weird.

Odell Beckham Jr.-  Beckham is still a dominant virtual option despite the game creators taking a rating point away from the wide receiver. Beckham goes from a 91 to a 90 and I suppose this is justifiable given the fact he got injured.

Adrian Clayborn- It is tough to argue against Madden taking away a rating point from Clayborn considering he played 25 snaps and was practically non-existent on each. Clayborn was a 77 and now sits at 76.

 

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson joins the 99 Club in Madden 21

It may not be an MVP vote yet, but the ascension to Madden 21’s “99” Club is an illustrious award for Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson.

Alongside the NFL records he is setting and the 5-0 start for his team, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson just earned another accolade due to his electric season. While it may not be an elusive MVP vote (yet), Wilson has joined the illustrious 99 Club in the “Madden 21” video game.

For those unfamiliar, the 99 Club is the name given to the highest-rated players in the current edition of the Madden franchise. Game developer EA Sports rates NFL players on a 0-99 scale, with a 99 overall rating (OVR) as the highest possible rating a player can achieve.

When “Madden 21” was released, the 99 Club only consisted of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Patriots defensive back Stephon Gilmore, Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, Saints receiver Michael Thomas and Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Now the list includes Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

Wilson was already one of the highest-rated players in the game originally with a lofty 97 OVR to start, which was a major increase from last year’s “Madden 20,” when he only posted a 92 OVR.

While that does seem high, by “Madden” standards Wilson wasn’t even a Top-20 ranked player in the game a year ago . . .  it’s amazing how much can change in a matter of months.

Now Wilson joins Bobby Wagner as the only two Seahawks to ever reach this exclusive status, as Wagner was in the 99 Club last year and still boasts an impressive 98 OVR.

Wilson was made aware of his ascension to the 99 Club by receiver DK Metcalf, who crashed a recording of Wilson’s show to deliver the news. Speaking of Metcalf, the way he is performing and continuing to rise, it may not be long before he finds himself in the 99 Club one day.

Not for nothing, it appears the Wilson household is already getting festive for Halloween.

[lawrence-related id=68165]

‘Madden 21’ added Giannis Antetokounmpo to the game and fans were confused

Why?

I could understand the excitement of adding a non-football athlete to a Madden game to see what a star from another sport would do in the EA Sports franchise, but only if it’s someone like LeBron James, because we know he’d probably be really good at football.

But Giannis Antetokounmpo? That’s fun, I guess. But do we really believe he would be an NFL player?

I’m probably overthinking it because it’s a video game. Madden 21 features the Milwaukee Bucks superstar and his brothers Kostas and Thanasis to “The Yard,” and it looks kind of fun to use them in the game:

A lot of fans were like me and were confused:

[jwplayer jUeU82zQ-q2aasYxh]

EA Sports 21 welcomes Colin Kaepernick to Madden 21

EA Sports has added Colin Kaepernick to Madden 21.

Colin Kaepernick is back in the game … the video game, that is.

EA Sports announced Tuesday the quarterback has a place in Madden 21.

Per the release:

“Colin Kaepernick is one of the top free agents in football and a starting-caliber quarterback. The team at EA sports, along with millions of Madden NFL fans want to see him back in our game. We’ve had a long relationship with Colin through Madden NFL and worked through our past soundtrack mistakes,” EA Sports said in the statement.

“Knowing that our EA SPORTS experiences are platforms for players to create, we want to make Madden NFL a place that reflect’s Colin’s position and talent, rates him as a starting QB, and empowers our fans to express their hopes for the future of football. We’ve worked with Colin to make this possible, and we’re excited to bring it to all of you today,“ the statement continued.

“Starting today in Madden NFL 21, fans can put Colin Kaepernick at the help of any NFL team in Franchise mode, as well as play with him in Play Now. We look forward to seeing Colin on Madden NFL teams everywhere.”

Kaepernick has not been in the NFL since January 2017 and NFL teams refusing to sign him has been a lightning rod since

EA Sports announces Colin Kaepernick will be a playable quarterback in ‘Madden 21’

The QB is still without a real job in the NFL.

Colin Kaepernick is still not in an NFL uniform as the 2020 season approaches.

But per EA Sports in a release that dropped on Tuesday, he will be a part of Madden 21.

“Knowing that our EA Sports experiences are platforms for players to create, we want to make Madden NFL a place that reflects Colin’s position and talent, rates him as a starting QB, and empowers our fans to express their hopes for the future of football,” the release reads, in part. “We’ve worked with Colin to make this possible, and we’re excited to bring it to all of you today.”

That last sentence is a big deal — as The Undefeated notes, the company had to work with Kaepernick to get his likeness into the game again:

According to EA Sports, after Kaepernick became a free agent following the 2016 NFL season, he was not included in the group licensing agreement, which is negotiated through the NFL Players Association, meaning Madden lost the rights to the quarterback’s likeness. Thus, Kaepernick did not appear in Madden 18, Madden 19 or Madden 20. …

This past summer, ahead of the release of Madden 21, EA Sports approached Kaepernick to negotiate the rights to his likeness so that he could return to the game for the first time in four years. According to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, Kaepernick was “hands-on” in determining exactly how his avatar was depicted in Madden 21. EA Sports confirmed that Kaepernick requested that his player in the game wear an Afro — an update from his most recent head image in 2016 that portrayed him in Madden 17 with cornrows. Also, according to multiple sources, Kaepernick weighed in heavily on his avatar’s signature celebration — a Black Power fist — to reflect how he celebrated scoring plays the last time he took to the real-life football field during the 2016 NFL season.

This move comes two years after Kaepenick’s name was edited out of Big Sean’s verse in a song included on the Madden 19 soundtrack, Big Bank, a move ripped by many including Big Sean himself. EA Sports later said it had made “an unfortunate mistake.”

The timing also coincides with weeks filled with heavy criticism about Madden 21 and the countless glitches that are popping up. There’s also this fact about how Nike’s stock rose when it launched a Kaepernick campaign:

Even if it’s a decision that’s good for the business and marketing of a much-panned video game, there’s a silver lining here: it reminds us that Kaepernick still isn’t wearing an NFL uniform, that his fight for racial equality and against injustice cost him his job.

As my colleague Steven Ruiz recently wrote, it’s too late for the NFL to make up for blackballing Kaepernick. But maybe having him in the game brings the awareness that Kaepernick’s fight — and that of countless others — is far from over.

[jwplayer qtZThsgP-q2aasYxh]

The latest ‘Madden’ glitch hilariously turned a kick return into the greatest fumble ever

LOL

The reviews and social media buzz around Madden 21 has been pretty bad, with fans sharing glitches aplenty — although, to be honest, we see glitches every year from the longtime NFL video game franchise — and having a lot of laughs over the 2020 edition.

So here are a couple more we found, starting with one that should be in a glitch Hall of Fame, because it takes what should be a pretty normal play and turns it into a game of Hot Potato that feels like it lasts for an hour. It starts with Curtis Samuel falling down after fielding a kick, and the football comes loose.

Then? Things get wild.

This one is also pretty great:

[jwplayer MAOyhWPU-q2aasYxh]

NFL fans are so fed up with glitches in ‘Madden 21’ that it now has a historically low user score

Yikes.

It seems like that NFL fans find a reason to complain about EA Sports’ Madden video game with each year’s edition. But this year, especially, fans are fed up with the product.

EA Sports has an exclusive licensing deal to make the NFL video game — a deal that was renewed this year — so without competition driving product improvements, users have generally been faced with minor refreshes on an annual basis instead of complete overhauls.

Madden 21, though, seems to be different. And not in a good way.

We’re about a week into Madden 21‘s release, and we’ve already seen some hilarious glitches hit social media. There was one game where the 49ers were playing on a completely unmarked field.

And there were examples of actual gameplay getting impacted.

It comes down to EA Sports asking fans to pay $60 for slightly refreshed versions of the previous year’s game.

But even last year, Madden 20 was at least received well critically. The users still hated it. But Madden 21 is getting ripped by both critics and fans.

Metacritc’s aggregate score from the critics has Madden 21 at a 62 — compared to last year’s favorable 79. The user score for Madden 21 is a historically low 0.4 out of 10 (!!!).

That, as of now, would be the lowest-ever user score on Metacritic, coming in slightly worse than Warcraft 3 Reforged‘s 0.5.

That’s not where the Madden franchise wants to be heading at all. Not even more sweat in next-gen games will be enough to fix it.

[jwplayer Rn7ZQjFz-q2aasYxh]

Yahoo’s ‘Madden NFL 21’ simulation says Jags traded away Super Bowl LV’s MVP

Yahoo Sport’s Madden simulation for the NFL’s upcoming season had some interesting things happen, including a former Jags being successful.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a busy offseason in 2020 and a lot of the transactions made were to reallocate money as they entered the season with a questionable cap situation. On defense, that included the trades of A.J. Bouye and Calais Campbell, two players who were Pro Bowlers at least once with the team.

On offense, the Jags were able to put Nick Foles’ contract off on the Chicago Bears at the cost of taking a massive $18.7 million cap hit on the season, of course. This was doable because of the 2019 performance and extremely inexpensive contract Gardner Minshew II provided the team with, leaving them eager to see what they had in the sixth-round pick.

While in the real world the Jags got future cap relief from the decision to trade Foles, in the virtual world of ‘Madden NFL 21’ they may have made another mistake — at least according to Yahoo Sports. In their annual NFL season simulation, the Chicago Bears ended up winning Super Bowl LV and the MVP of the games was, you guessed it — Foles.

Here is what writer Anthony Sulla-Heffinger had to say about Foles in his 20 takeaways for the 2020 season simulation.

16. Nick Foles(yes, Nick Foles)wins NFL MVP. If you’ve made it this far, congrats, because you’re about to enter the “Madden” Twilight Zone. Foles finished with a league-best 4,801 yards, 44 TDs, 5 interceptions and 70 percent completion rate. If this was “Madden 2014,” I might buy this since Foles was coming off his 27-touchdown breakout with the Eagles. In 2020, I’d be hard pressed to find something less likely to happen.

In addition to Foles’ solid year and showing in the Super Bowl, the Bears also registered a 14-2 season before heading to the playoffs and beating the Kansas City Chiefs for the Lombardi Trophy by a score of 42-24.

17. Oh wait, I spoke too soon! The Bears had the league’s best record, finishing 14-2 before eventually advancing to Super Bowl LV against Kansas City.

18. Which of course … They won. The Chicago Bears won Super Bowl LV 42-24, with Nick Foles throwing for six touchdown passes and tying Steve Young’s record from Super Bowl XXIX.

Simply put, this could be a long shot in reality, but if it happens, it feels like the Bears elite defense would have to pull the weight. Basically, this would point to the Bears being a similar team to the 2017 Jags where the defense was a very good unit, but the quarterback play was sporadic.