The Jets’ wide receiver is a victim of ‘egregious’ likeness in the new ‘Madden’ video game.
1. Over the years, we’ve periodically been completely mystified by how certain players appear in Madden.
Who can forget last year when Madden made Patriots quarterback Mac Jones look like this:
Back in 2018, the Cowboys’ Tyrone Crawford was not thrilled with the flabby body that Madden gave him.
The latest player to have beef–very legitimate beef–with the Madden developers is underrated Jets wide receiver and special teams star Braxton Berrios.
Berrios recently dyed his hair blonde, so this is what he currently looks like:
And this is what Berrios looked like before he went platinum:
Here is what Madden thinks Berrios looks like:
WHAT IS THAT?!?!
Egregious is the right word. Why did Madden make Berrios, who is 26, look like he’s 46? And why did Madden give Berrios serial killer vibes?
Berrios claimed via Instagram he’s convinced Madden has it out for him.
Berrios’s girlfriend, Sophia Culpo, had a great response to his rendering:
My first thought when I saw the photo was that the guy looks more like a character from Mad Men than an NFL player.
NFL fans also had thoughts on Berrios’s Madden likeness, with Tobey Maguire and Carmy from The Bear getting a lot of play.
2. A brand-new SI Media Podcast dropped today and my guest this week is Tim Burke, also known on Twitter as @Bubbaprog, one of the former Deadspin reporters who broke the 2013 Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax story that is the subject of a new Netflix two-part series.
Burke gives details on how Deadspin got the tip about Te'o and how long they worked on the story before publishing it. He also talks about being surprised by the reaction to the story, what he wanted to accomplish with the story and what he'd do differently.
Burke also discusses the recent kerfuffle he found himself in after posting a spliced video of Sean Hannity and Ron DeSantis, how he was the first person to post the uncensored video of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, how he's able to monitor so many things throughout the day and more.
The podcast closes with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata, from WFAN and SNY in New York. This week, I go on yet another rant about streaming, with the new NFL+ service as his target. We also discuss the NBA vs. NFL battle that is now set for Christmas Day, the NFL’s decision to add a Black Friday game next season and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
3. Giants radio broadcaster Dave Flemming gave his partner, Jon Miller, who called Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN for many years, a lengthy lesson on Wordle during last night’s game, and it was riveting.
4. The Big Ten’s new media deals were officially announced today. My colleague Pat Forde has all the details, but one development that we’re not down with at all is it appears CBS, which will now air Big Ten games instead of SEC games, will keep the same theme music. I’m sorry, but new conference should mean new music for CBS.
5. I saw Shohei Ohtani went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs scored and a homer Wednesday. I also saw the Mariners beat the Angels, 11–7. So this is a good day to bring back one of the better sports tweets of the past year.
6. Absolutely nothing gets past Kevin Durant on Twitter.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: The Rock recently shared the backstory on this famous promo where he mocked HHH during an Instagram Live with former WWE head writer (and last week's SI Media Podcast guest) Brian Gewirtz. It’s always worth a watch.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.