As a long-time fan of Madden NFL and football enthusiast, I’ve watched with a mix of admiration and concern as the game has evolved over the years. The depiction of concussions, once a hallmark of the series, is now conspicuously absent, replaced by vague injury reports that leave fans wondering about the players’ true condition.
Content warning: This article mentions self-harm.
Over the years, enthusiasts of EA Sports games might remember their catchphrase, “It’s in the game,” as a condensed form of what they’d hear when starting any of its sports titles spanning multiple decades: “If it’s on the field (or ice, court, etc.), it’s also in the game.” This straightforward phrase effectively conveyed the idea of authenticity. If you saw an action happening on the real-life playing field, chances were good that it would appear in the video game version as well. That was the idea, at least.
However, it proved effective. The soundbite remains vivid; I can still echo it in my mind even though EA discarded the initial part of that phrase years ago. Today, authenticity seems to be the guiding principle for the Madden team, more so than ever before, a term frequently mentioned when I converse with the EA Orlando (previously Tiburon) staff. Yet, this year’s NFL season will present a notable difference between the game and reality: Guardian Caps.
Introduced in 2010, Guardian Caps are the newest additions to safety gear for athletes. These thick, comforter-like coverings are worn over traditional helmets and offer additional protection to players’ brains compared to even the best helmets alone. Since the year 2022, athletes have been donning Guardian Caps during practice sessions. They were made mandatory in practice last season and have been observed in preseason games this summer. As we approach the start of the 2024 season, it will be the first time these admittedly unconventional protective layers are allowed for use in regular season matches.
Individually, players have the option to don a Guardian Cap during games. Consequently, some teams might not utilize them at all, while others could potentially field multiple players wearing these caps on the football field this season. At present, it’s a matter of personal preference; however, we’ll observe how the future unfolds for a sport that has been grappling with head injuries and the legal issues stemming from this ongoing issue.
Guardian Caps could potentially play a significant role in decreasing the occurrence of concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive condition that may result from repeated head injuries throughout one’s lifetime. This disease can lead to severe symptoms such as memory loss, cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and even suicide. Notably, former NFL player Dave Duerson took his own life in 2011 and requested in a suicide note for his brain to be examined for signs of trauma he believed was caused by his football career. The following year, linebacker Junior Seau died similarly, without leaving a note; however, some speculate that Seau’s intentions were similar to Duerson’s. Upon posthumous examination, both men showed clear indications of CTE.
For the NFL, CTE is a major image problem, as well as a legal concern, as depicted in the movie Concussion, based on true events regarding a forensic pathologist countering the league’s attempts to bury his findings on CTE. Today the league is still trying to separate itself from its ugly history, which has had the positive effect of driving more numerous and robust player-safety initiatives, whether that’s to seriously improve player safety or just cover its ass in court–realistically, it’s both. For a long time, coaches and even afflicted players often preferred to sweep concussions under the rug. This was an open secret in the NFL, and many football players of any level–even in high school–would likely tell you what they have told me: Whatever their number of reported concussions is, the truth is something higher.
When Guardian Caps were introduced in 2022, the league stated that they could potentially decrease the impact from head collisions by 10% if one player is wearing it and 20% if all players involved are equipped with them. Similar to how masks are most effective during a pandemic when everyone uses them, it’s expected that these caps may gain more popularity and potentially become mandatory over time. However, you won’t see them featured in Madden, EA’s popular football game, as the league has historically chosen to disregard concussions in that context.
It seems challenging to pinpoint exactly when Madden games stopped including depictions of concussions, as I no longer have my older versions and neither EA nor the league has provided clear information on this matter. Instead, I find myself navigating a hazy online discourse filled with partial truths and urban myths. For instance, some claim that Madden stopped showing concussions after 2001, but what actually happened was that an ambulance started appearing to take injured players off the field. However, it was not until later that the league requested this feature be removed due to concerns about trivializing serious injuries; concussions themselves were not removed from the game at that time.
As a dedicated gamer, I’ve noticed there’s some ambiguity around when the term “concussion” was replaced with “head injury” in video games like Madden. Based on an article I once read in Sports Illustrated (unfortunately, it’s no longer available), EA claimed this change was made for authenticity purposes. You see, in real sports, players’ injuries aren’t always immediately diagnosed after they occur, unlike how the game had been portraying them previously.
According to reports, both the sports league and John Madden proposed that the Madden game developers should show concussions less often to more accurately represent their real-world occurrence frequency. However, due to the poor reporting of concussions in the league at that time, it’s possible that the data given to EA for alignment was significantly flawed. In fact, the rate of concussions before these changes might have mirrored the hidden truth about the league’s concussion problem more accurately.
2005 saw a time in Madden where hits could knock helmets off opponents, but this feature vanished by the next year due to technical constraints as EA transitioned the series to new consoles for Madden 2006. Notably, tackles that led to these animations in the past are now penalized, fined, or suspended in the NFL as part of their safety measures for players. Consequently, such moments were probably phased out over time even if the game had stopped featuring them earlier.
In current versions of Madden, you won’t find any instances of concussions or head injuries depicted. I recall that it’s been quite some time since these were part of the game–even animated scenes showing players holding their helmets and appearing dazed after a play seem to be absent from the series now. A widely-held, though unproven, fan theory suggests that Electronic Arts (EA) changed the terminology used in injury reports, which used to mention head trauma, to instead report “bruised sternums.” This type of injury is noticeably more common in Madden than in real life.
However, the introduction of in-game Guardian Caps has sparked debate once more on the topic of head injuries in Madden. Notably, players like Jonathan Taylor of the Colts have announced their intention to don a Guardian Cap during games this season. Just as Odell Beckham Jr’s half-sleeve or Derrick Henry’s eye-black symbolizing a cross are recognized, these Guardian Caps will likely be associated with those who wear them. Typically, EA aims to represent such elements in the game–“It’s in the game,” they say–but considering Madden operates within a trauma-free fantasy realm, the lack of Guardian Caps could soon become conspicuous.
17 distinct helmet designs are featured in Madden 25, such as the one-bar helmet from the ’60s that seems to add a comical touch. Approximately half a dozen mouthguards, visors, and various facemasks are also included. You can customize a player’s gear extensively from head to toe, but you can’t equip them with a Guardian Cap despite its appearance this fall, as acknowledging concussions would contradict the stance of modern Madden, which either doesn’t want to or isn’t allowed to do so.
When will the Guardian Caps, already integrated into the game, be fully embraced in the real NFL?
TopMob contacted Electronic Arts (EA) seeking their thoughts on whether Guardian Caps might be incorporated into Madden NFL 25. However, we have not received a response from them as of now. If they reply, we will promptly update this article with their comments.
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2024-08-29 20:09