Subban took the stage at the ceremony to talk about the honor and expressed thoughts that him being on the cover represents the “growth in the game and embracing of different personalities.”
Subban has twice been named an All-Star and took home the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top defense player, in 2013. In addition to being one of the league’s more talented (and controversial) players on the ice, he has shown immense talent away from it as well. During this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, Subban provided commentary during NBC’s broadcast coverage. Subban is certainly a person worth marketing to promote the NHL, and EA Sports is doing just that.
Tyreek Hill is arguably the most explosive player in the NFL, but the creators the latest edition of the long-running “Madden” video game feel he is not the fastest. The Chiefs wide receiver has a serious issue with that, and he insists it is going to be addressed.
In an appearance on PFT Live Friday, Hill was asked how his speed rating in “Madden 18” is only a 97. He said he has no explanation but that he has spoken with someone at EA Sports about it.
“I have spoken to someone from EA,” Hill said. “They were like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna change it. We’re gonna change it.’ I have no idea. … I need my credit, you know what I’m saying? If I’m putting in the work, give me the results, baby. It’s only a matter of time. They’re gonna do it.”
For what it’s worth, no player has a 99 speed rating in the game. The only player listed as faster than Hill is Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver John Ross, who has a 98 rating. While Ross hardly played in 2017 because of injuries, the former Washington star posted the fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL Combine history, so that is hard to ignore.
If Hill has another season in 2018 like the one he had last year, perhaps “Madden” will give him a boost. Then again, we saw how Dez Bryant got trolled by the creators when he was unhappy with his rating.
The Atlanta Hawks continue to get disrespected both on and off the court.
Philadelphia 76ers star rookie Ben Simmons was livestreaming himself playing multiplayer online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (more popularly known as PUBG) on live video platform Twitch on Tuesday. During Simmons’ livestream, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, an avid gamer and popular Twitch user himself, hopped on with him.
As Towns arrived, Simmons tried to get them to run a game of PUBG together and told him, “We got time. Who do you play tomorrow?” When Towns said that the Wolves were playing the Hawks, an amused Simmons replied, “Yeah, you’ve got plenty of time.” Twitch user YURRZZ captured the funny clip.
The Hawks are indeed the worst team in the East this season at 21-53, so you can see where Simmons is coming from. But the Wolves, who are fighting for a playoff spot, cannot afford to take anything for granted, as opposed to the Sixers, who have already clinched. After all, Minnesota just had a humiliating loss to a similarly lousy team on Monday, so hopefully Towns didn’t stay up too late playing (despite the scheduled 7 PM tipoff against Atlanta).
Andrew McCutchen may be 31, but he still thinks his wheels deserve respect.
In an NBC Sports Bay Area video feature that ran on Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants outfielder called out popular video game “MLB The Show” over his low speed rating in last year’s edition.
“It better be high,” said McCutchen in anticipation of his speed rating in the latest 2018 edition. “Better be higher than it was last year. Had my speed all the way down, messed up. I’m gonna get my speed up. My speed better be up.
“I’m not slow. I’m serious,” the former NL MVP added. “I think they had me at like 70 or something last time. That’s low, that’s like a C-minus. So higher than it was last year, it had me slow. If you don’t think I’m that fast, go on the field, we can do a 50-yard sprint. I promise I will blow you out.”
The five-time All-Star has been known throughout his career for some speed on the basepaths, averaging 19 stolen bases a year and peaking at 33 in 2010. He only stole six bags in 2016 however, then 11 in 2017, which may account for the corresponding fluctuation in his speed rating. At least “MLB The Show” didn’t do McCutchen as dirty as they did Jose Ramirez though.
The trade that will send Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins cannot be finalized until the new NFL league year begins in March, but Travis Kelce is wasting no time turning things over to first-round pick Patrick Mahomes.
On Thursday, Kelce stopped by the EA Sports Super Bowl party in Minneapolis to follow through after he challenged New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara to a game of “Madden NFL 2018.” While Smith is still the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs in the game, Kelce is looking to the future.
At @EASPORTS Super Bowl party. Travis Kelce playing Alvin Kamara in Madden and the first thing Kelce does is bench Alex Smith for Pat Mahomes
Kelce has already thrown his full support behind Mahomes, recently saying that he believes the Chiefs can win a Super Bowl with the former Texas Tech star under center. In fact, there where times during the 2017 season where it appeared as though Kelce had quit on Smith, so the star tight end is probably welcoming the change.
Pete Carroll is generally regarded as a player-friendly, youthful football coach. He looks anything but that in the “Madden 18” video game’s prediction video.
Blogger Mookie Alexander of Seahawks fan site Field Gulls says he was running a prediction video for Sunday’s Packers-Seahawks game and came across this shot of Carroll looking rather ancient.
Carroll turns 66 in two weeks. And while he’s an elder statesman among NFL head coaches, most people probably wouldn’t think of him as being terribly old. Madden, which has had some other odd glitches in the past, certainly did the Seahawks coach no favors.
Madden 18, the newest installment from the popular football video game franchise, has labeled this iteration the “G.O.A.T. Edition.” (GOAT = greatest of all time.) The cover of the new game features an emotional Tom Brady.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the cover athlete is as good as any player in the game. Brady is indeed a 99 overall, the highest mark a player can score. Pretty incredible for a 40-year-old who was drafted in the sixth round.
Brady is not, however, alone near the triple digits. Two other NFL players are rated 99 overall: Denver linebacker Von Miller and Rams defensive end Aaron Donald, according to UPROXX.
Miller has a 98 Pursuit rating and a 97 Finesse Move. Donald has a 96 Power Move and a 91 Block Shedding. Though Brady isn’t ranked the highest when it comes to physical attributes (his speed, acceleration, agility, and strength are all in the 60s), his awareness is a 99.
JJ Watt came close to the rarified air. He is rated a 98 overall.
Tom Brady is the Madden 18 cover athlete, but there’s a good chance he won’t be using the team he actually plays for in real life when he fires up the game.
According to Brady, he usually doesn’t get to play as the New England Patriots — because his 9-year-old son Jack claims them before he can.
“I don’t like doing it,” Brady said, via ESPN. “It does feel weird. I feel like I’m going up against my own guys that I love. Julian [Edelman] catches a pass, and I’ve got to tackle him. I’ve been Green Bay, because I like that offense. And I’ve been Seattle, because I love being that defense.”
For the second consecutive year, a member of the New England Patriots will grace the cover of the latest installment of the “Madden” video game series. This year, EA Sports has labeled the game “The G.O.A.T. Edition.”
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) May 12, 2017
We know what you’re thinking, Patriots fans: What about the curse? Some say the Madden curse is a very real thing. Others argue it is totally overblown. Rob Gronkowski appeared on the cover of Madden 17, and he ended up playing in just eight games due to a back injury. Although, Gronk has suffered numerous significant injuries throughout his career.
Brady acknowledges that there is some concern about the infamous curse, but he is hoping to buck the trend.
Plenty of athletes have survived being on the Madden cover. One of the most notable was Calvin Johnson with Madden 13, and he appeared in all 16 games that season (which was actually the 2012 season). John Madden himself weighed in on the jinx a few years back, and you can probably guess what he had to say about it.
Brady will turn 40 this summer. He’s obviously a freak athlete who is unlike any player in NFL history before him. Hopefully he can elude the curse.
The recent winner of the Madden Bowl was stripped of $3,000 in prize money due to his inappropriate tweets.
EA Sports announced on Wednesday that they had stripped Madden Bowl winner Chris “Dubby” McFarland of $3,000 of his $75,000 prize money for winning the tournament, as well as 100 Madden NFL Championship Series points, because of his tweets.
Here is the announcement they posted about the news:
Here’s the specific language about why he was fined:
“During and directly after the competition, Chris posted multiple message on a personal social media account that referenced inappropriate content. These posts violated our Code of Conduct and don’t represent the values of our organization. We immediately met with Chris to warn him that his posts were inappropriate and could not continue. Unfortunately, additional offensive messages were posted in subsequent days —Chris has since removed them.”
McFarland is now a public figure after winning and EA expects him to act as such. He recognized his wrongdoing and even spoke to that on his Twitter account, acknowledging that he would be somewhat censoring himself from here on out.
Today is the day the real Dubby dies. Feel free to unfollow.
