Summary
Madden NFLwas reportedly a factor behind the New York Jets choosing not to sign former Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, despite entering negotiations with his former team about a trade. Created by EA,Madden NFLis a popular football simulation game franchise named after John Madden, a former coach and commentator in the sport.
First established in 1988,Madden NFLis a long-running series and an EA Sports IP which receives a new installment every year, with its latest entry coming out in August 2024 for consoles and PC. Upon release,Madden NFL 25was met with a lukewarm receptiondespite strong sales. Among the franchise’s various fundamental features are player ratings, stats that are directly proportional to a footballer’s effectiveness in the game, helping players easily identify the best people on the team. In an interesting revelation, it has been claimed thatMadden NFL’s player ratings may have influenced certain real-world acquisition discussions in the North American sport.
The New York Jets’s owner, Woody Johnson, seemingly decided against his franchise trading for the 25-year-old wide receiver Jerry Jeudy because the latter’sMadden NFLrating “wasn’t high enough.” As reported byThe Athletic(viaIGN), Johnson’s call was the reason behind New York Jets General Manager Joe Douglas exiting talks with the player’s former team, the Denver Broncos, despite being “deep in negotiations” and being personally interested in the acquisition. The source continued that the Broncos “couldn’t believe” the reason why the move didn’t materialize. In the end, Jeudy, rated 84 inMadden NFL 25’s databaseat the time of writing, was moved to the Cleveland Browns instead.
New York Jets Supposedly Referenced Madden NFL Ratings for Player Acquisitions
The report also highlighted that this wasn’t a one-off case where Johnsonrelied onMadden NFLratingsto opine on new acquisitions for the New York Jets. In the past, a move for free agent John Simpson was also reportedly “pushed back” by the owner based on the player’s “awareness” stat in the game. Talking aboutMadden NFLbeing a factor behind his failed move to the Jets, Jerry Jeudy labeled the claims as possibly being “fake news” in arecent press conference.
While EA devs obviously work hard to makeMadden NFLas realistic as they can, there are instances where the game may not truly reflect the ability of a real-world player. Given that new Cleveland Browns signing Jeudy has been playing considerably well in real life as of late, his case appears to be one of those where fans may argue a player merits a better in-game rating than the one EA gave them.
Madden NFL 25
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