Colin Kaepernick was reportedly heavily involved in deciding how he would be portrayed in the game.
Now let’s see him do it on real grass
For the first time since 2016, Colin Kaepernick is back in EA Sports’ Madden NFL series.
EA lost the rights to Kaepernick’s likeness when he lost his job in the NFL but after negotiating with him individually, gamers can once again play as Kaepernick in the popular video game series.
The Undefeated’s Aaron Dodson reports that Kaepernick took “hands on” approach to his inclusion in the game, lobbying for his digital avatar to have an Afro (as opposed to the cornrows he had in Madden 17) and to use the Black Power fist as a touchdown celebration, as he did in his most recent NFL season.
Here’s what it looks like in action.
The announcing team of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis also recorded new commentary specially for Kaepernick.
“It’s so difficult to prepare and try to defend Colin Kaepernick,” Davis says. “Not just because of the physical skills—they’re always on display, whether it’s throwing the ball downfield or running with the ball as well. But how about the leadership he exhibits? How his team will follow him, the smarts he has in playing the game and, of course, the overall toughness. You can’t run the football the way that he does without being a guy who’s willing to take a hit.”
Kaepernick is rated an 81 overall in the game, tied with Ben Roethlisberger for the 15th best QB. He ranks as the top free-agent QB in the game and has a better rating than 17 projected Week 1 starters, including Ryan Tannehill, Derek Carr and Cam Newton. That has certain people all upset, because Kaepernick was rated a 76 in Madden 17. But he had had three surgeries in the year before that game came out, including a season-ending operation for a torn labrum in his shoulder. Observers were right to question how he’d respond. EA says his Madden 21 rating is meant to reflect the grade he was given when he was healthy, an 81 in Madden 16.
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