Madden NFL 15 dev team trolls incoming rookie class

By Adam Rosenberg July 20, 2014

Madden NFL 15 announcement — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Read our full Madden NFL 15 review.

Freshly drafted NFL rookies must feel like they’re on top of the world. Living the dream! Going to Disneyland! After years of training, hard work, and toughing it out in the brutal college football arena, then biting fingernails down to nubs as pro teams make their selections during the draft, being one of the handful picked must be pretty darn special.

That’s why EA Tiburon is here to remind them all that the tremendous achievement of landing on an NFL team really just turns them into smaller fish in a bigger pond.

This newly released Madden NFL 15 video features no gameplay. It’s a series of talking head clips with some of the 2014 season’s marquee rookies. Watch as they predict what their virtual player stats will be in the upcoming game, then see those hopes dashed as they learn the reality of how they’ve been rated by EA Tiburon’s so-called “ratings czar,” Donny Moore.

It’s funny stuff, and a good way for football fans to pass the time as the countdown to Madden NFL 15‘s August 26 release — not to mention the start of the 2014 NFL season — continues.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

The history of the Madden Curse

John Madden bursts through the cover of Madden NFL 23: All Madden Edition.

More than 20 years into the iconic franchise's history, there's almost no escaping the Madden Curse. Since Garrison Hearst broke his ankle in 1998 shortly after appearing on the cover of Madden NFL 99, most of the players who starred on the game's cover have suffered an injury the following season. Of the 22 players who have been selected to grace the cover of Madden games, 16 have had troubling or abruptly shortened seasons following their cover debut -- including several who suffered season-ending injuries shortly after their game hit shelves.

EA Sports continues to dismiss any serious talk of a curse hovering over its wildly successful franchise and attributed the rash of injuries and other negative, post-cover issues to an athlete's natural regression after a season of peak performance. They're probably right -- but Madden NFL 21 gave us another chance to test the curse. Lamar Jackson seemingly passed the test, but the injury bug plagued the Ravens backfield a season later in the form of season-ending injuries to all their running backs.

Gaming

Madden NFL 23’s ‘no-brainer’ cover star is John Madden

John Madden bursts through the cover of Madden NFL 23: All Madden Edition.

EA has confirmed rumors that Coach John Madden will be the cover star of Madden NFL 23.
John Madden, who had a long career as both the coach of the Oakland Raiders and a football analyst, died in December 2021. EA is honoring Madden -- the namesake and inspiration behind its highly successful football game franchise -- by renaming a recently renovated field at its Redwood Shores headquarters to the "John Madden Field" and putting him on the cover of Madden NFL 23. There will be three unique covers, including one by artist Chuck Styles for the digital-exclusive Madden NFL 23 All-Madden Edition.

Speaking to Digital Trends, executive producer Aaron McHardy said that EA typically looks at the most exciting and Madden brand-aligned athletes in the NFL when choosing a cover star. But he says there wasn't much of a debate about who would headline the next game after the team learned of Madden's death.
"I don't even think there were discussions as everybody just arrived at the fact that he's going back on the cover because we have to honor him in the best way we possibly can," McHardy said. "It's been so long since he was on the cover of the game, but the game has got his name on it every single year, so we wanted to do everything we could to honor the legend like he is, and it was a no-brainer to put him on the cover."
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"I didn't have the pleasure of speaking with him, but I know a lot of the guys on the team did." McHardy continued. "He was invested in making sure that our game was the most authentic 11v11 football game that it could be. It was obviously a sad and somber moment to lose someone like Coach Madden, but it really energized the team in a way this year to think about our features, what we're building, and how we can honor that legacy." Madden NFL 23 will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S later this year.

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A Rams and bengals helmet sit on the field in Madden 22.

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Madden 22 | Official Super Bowl LVI Prediction (feat. Marshawn Lynch)