Content material warning: This article mentions self-harm.
Longtime gamers of EA Sports activities video games might recall how the writer’s well-known slogan, “It is within the recreation,” is definitely a shortened model of the complete sentiment one would hear upon booting up any of its many sports activities video games throughout a number of a long time: “If it is within the recreation, it is in the sport.” This easy phrase labored effectively for a very long time as a technique to tout authenticity. In the event you’re seeing it on the sector (or rink, courtroom, et al), you possibly can guess it will be within the online game simulation. That was the promise anyway.
However it labored. The soundbyte is iconic; I can nonetheless hear it in my head at the same time as EA dropped the primary half of that slogan years in the past, and in the present day, the Madden workforce’s North Star is, arguably greater than ever, authenticity. It is a phrase that comes up consistently at any time when I communicate to members of the EA Orlando (previously Tiburon) workforce. However this 12 months’s NFL season is ready to introduce a stark distinction between what’s within the recreation and what’s in the sport: Guardian Caps.
Invented in 2010, Guardian Caps signify the most recent in player-safety tools. These cumbersome, quilt-like coverings go over a participant’s conventional helmet and are supposed to shield gamers’ brains greater than even the perfect helmets can on their very own. Since 2022, gamers have been carrying Guardian Caps in follow periods. They grew to become a follow mandate final season and have been noticed in preseason video games this summer season. When the 2024 season kicks off in just a few days, it will mark the primary time the admittedly aesthetically awkward protecting layers are approved for use in regular season games.
Gamers can decide to make use of a Guardian Cap as people. This means some groups might haven’t any gamers utilizing them in video games, whereas others might have a number of working across the gridiron in Guardian Caps this fall. For now, it is a private selection, although we’ll see what the long run holds for a sport beleaguered by head trauma and the resulting legal problems such an epidemic has created.
Guardian Caps is perhaps a robust instrument to scale back the frequency of concussions and continual traumatic encephalopathy, higher often called CTE. This degenerative illness can happen when an individual suffers a number of concussions of their lifetime, and may result in tragic penalties together with reminiscence and cognition loss, temper issues, and even suicide. When former NFL participant Dave Duerson died by suicide in 2011, he did so by capturing himself within the chest, and he left a word imploring that his mind be studied for indicators of trauma he believed he was affected by on account of taking part in soccer. A 12 months later, linebacker Junior Seau died in the identical method, and although no word was left behind, some imagine Seau’s unstated message was the identical as Duerson’s word. Each males have been posthumously discovered to have definitive indicators of CTE.
For the NFL, CTE is a significant picture drawback, in addition to a authorized concern, as depicted within the film Concussion, based mostly on true occasions concerning a forensic pathologist countering the league’s makes an attempt to bury his findings on CTE. Right now the league continues to be making an attempt to separate itself from its ugly historical past, which has had the optimistic impact of driving extra quite a few and strong player-safety initiatives, whether or not that is to significantly enhance participant security or simply cowl its ass in court–realistically, it is each. For a very long time, coaches and even stricken gamers usually most popular to brush concussions beneath the rug. This was an open secret within the NFL, and lots of soccer gamers of any level–even in excessive school–would seemingly let you know what they’ve instructed me: No matter their variety of reported concussions is, the reality is one thing increased.
When Guardian Caps debuted in 2022, the league stated that they will cut back the power from head contact by 10% if one participant is carrying it, and 20% if all gamers concerned are carrying them. Like masking in a pandemic, they work greatest when everybody wears one, so I anticipate them to change into extra fashionable and even perhaps mandated finally. However you will not see it depicted in Madden, EA’s best-selling soccer recreation, as a result of in that case, the league’s reply has lengthy been to disregard concussions altogether.
It is onerous to verify when precisely Madden stopped depicting concussions. With out the a lot older video games in my library anymore, and with out EA or the league willfully commenting on this subject, I am on the mercy of a murky on-line dialogue that gives a number of half-truths and concrete legends. For instance, some say Madden stopped exhibiting concussions after 2001, however actually, this was simply the ambulance that may generally arrive to take injured gamers off the sector. The league requested this feature be taken out as a result of it felt the sport was making mild of main accidents, although concussions weren’t taken out at the moment.
There’s additionally some grey space concerning when the language of “concussion” was switched to “head damage.” In line with a now-deleted Sports Illustrated feature, EA says this was achieved for authenticity causes, provided that gamers’ accidents are usually not instantly recognized proper after they’re injured the best way Madden had been depicting.
It is stated that each the league and John Madden himself recommended that the Madden dev workforce depict concussions much less ceaselessly in its online game to higher simulate the real-life frequency of the damage. Nonetheless, resulting from such terrible concussion reporting within the league at the moment, the figures EA was instructed to align with are more likely to have been extraordinarily defective. It might even be that the sport’s price of concussions earlier than these adjustments higher mirrored the obfuscated actuality of the league’s drawback.
It was in Madden 2005 when gamers might ship such earth-shattering hits that their opponents’ helmets would possibly fly off, however a 12 months later, this was already gone. Once more, EA stated this was a technical limitation owed to transferring the collection to the brand new consoles for Madden 2006. It is price noting that the launch-tackles that resulted on this animation of yesteryear are in the present day punishable within the NFL by penalties, fines, and even suspensions for repeat offenders in what was one other player-safety choice. Subsequently, these moments have been more likely to have disappeared by now even when the sport did not eliminate them so way back.
Right now, there aren’t any concussions in Madden, and no “head accidents” both. To my reminiscence, it has been years since they have been depicted–even animations of gamers clutching their helmets and feeling woozy after a play appear to have been wiped from the collection. It is a popular–though unsubstantiated–fan principle that EA merely tweaked the language of damage experiences that previously talked about head trauma to as an alternative learn as “bruised sternums,” a category of damage that’s now rather more prevalent in Madden than actual life.
However now, the emergence of in-game Guardian Caps re-opens the dialogue round Madden and head accidents. Some gamers, even outstanding ones just like the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, say they plan to wear a Guardian Cap in games this fall. Similar to Odell Beckham Jr’s single half-sleeve or Derrick Henry’s eye-black meant to appear to be a cross, these Guardian Caps will change into synonymous with the gamers carrying them. Usually, this could be one thing EA would search to depict within the game–“It is within the recreation,” after all–but given Madden exists in a fantasy world freed from head trauma, the absence of Guardian Caps will quickly be apparent.
There are 17 completely different helmets in Madden 25, together with the single-bar helmet of the Sixties, which I assume is there for comedic impact. There are roughly a half-dozen completely different mouthguards, about the identical variety of visors, and lots of extra facemasks. You possibly can customise any participant’s gear in a big variety of methods, head to toe, however you possibly can’t give them a Guardian Cap, even should you’ll see them carrying one this fall, as a result of that may admit concussions exist, which fashionable Madden is not willing–or, extra seemingly, allowed–to do.
However as we transfer towards an all-Guardian Cap future within the NFL, the league and EA must discover a new method of addressing the issue. Pretending it does not exist has lengthy been a band-aid for a way more important problem, and even when the NFL would’ve been content material to advertise that concussion-free alternate universe ceaselessly, the rising adoption price of Guardian Caps amongst NFL gamers forces it to acknowledge the issue immediately. Guardian Caps are within the recreation, so when precisely will they be in the sport?
GameSpot reached out to EA for touch upon this topic and the potential of Madden including Guardian Caps in Madden NFL 25, although we’ve not heard again but. We’ll replace this story ought to EA reply.