The Loop
Madden rates guy who hasn't played football in four years higher than Rookie of the Year Kyler Murray
First thing's first: if you're legitimately upset and/or care about Madden ratings, you need to find a new slant. There are so many better things to do with your time or get worked up about. Where your favorite team's second-string quarterback ranks in a video game ain't it.
Having said that, Madden 21's odd announcement on Tuesday afternoon was certainly worthy of some good old-fashioned Twitter debate:
Right off the bat, it's quite clear whoever wrote this statement was high on PCP, and that's before even getting to Colin Kaepernick's rating in the game. Despite not having taken a single live snap in a professional football game since 2016, Kaepernick is an 81 overall rating in the latest Madden game. If you knew nothing of Madden ratings or any other player's rating in the game, this number means absolutely nothing. Who the F cares, am I right? I am being 100 percent honest when I tell you I haven't bought this game since 2008. If anyone else falls in that same boat, this news means nothing.
HOWEVA, the Kaepernick rating gets completely absurd when you start to see who he his rated higher than in the latest version of Madden. No matter what you feel about his kneeling or the fact he hasn't played since 2016 or the fact he was downright bad in his final two seasons, I think we can all agree that on no planet should Kaepernick be rated higher than Offensive Rookie of the Year Kyler Murray, who is a 77 overall in the game. Huh?
But wait, there's more (RIP Billy Mays)! He's also rated higher than Tennessee Titans starter Ryan Tannehill (80), former MVP Cam Newton (78), two-time Pro Bowler Jared Goff (76) and Jameis Winston (76), who only threw for 33 touchdowns last season (and 30 picks). The counter argument, of course, is that these Madden ratings are up to date and not based on past performance. But that argument would conveniently leave out the fact Kaepernick hasn't played in four years.
The folks at EA are obviously living in some sort of fantasy land, and this was likely just a move to drum up some much-needed talk and buzz around the game. Judging by the social media takes before the Kaepernick announcement, things weren't going well for Madden 21. Fans of the game have been ripping it to shreds, so much so that a #NFLDropEA hashtag was trending when the game first came out. Gee, I wonder why:
Yikes. Maybe fix the gameplay first and then worry about what free agents are in the game? Just a thought.