Sacked! Michael Vick and Madden

By James King / Thursday, 30 August 2007

Michael Vick will be removed from Madden NFL 08 on the same day that the NFL regular season begins. Has the "Madden Curse" struck against the only athlete thought to overcome it? How did Vick's Madden career compare to his real-life career? Is September 5 the last time that gamers will ever see the former football star? Read on to find out!

Vick, pictured in Madden NFL 2004, deking Warren Sapp.

Guilty

As reported previously, a representative from EA Sports has confirmed to The Wiire that Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback who pled guilty on August 27 to federal charges stemming from his involvement in a dogfighting operation, will be removed from Madden NFL 08 in the next roster update.

The roster update, scheduled to occur on September 6, is a mandatory download for those who play the game online. The update will render Vick an unplayable character during online matches. The Falcons' roster featured Vick as the starting quarterback when the game was released on August 14.

In a written plea agreement filed in federal court last Friday, Vick admitted to taking part in the killings of six to eight pit bulls and supplying money for gambling on the fights. According to the plea agreement, Vick funded Bad Newz Kennels, an organization that sponsored, bred, and trained approximately 54 pit bulls for the purposes of dogfighting.

According to a federal indictment filed on July 17, Vick and three co-defandants allegedly sponsored dog fights on property owned by Vick in Smithfield, Va. It was alleged that Vick and his three co-defendants killed dogs that underperformed in "testing sessions" by shooting, drowning, and electrocuting the animals.

Vick will be sentenced on December 10 and faces up to five years in prison.

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'Cruel and Reprehensible'

"Your admitted conduct is not only illegal, but cruel and reprehensible," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Vick dated August 24. Vick's infraction not only violates federal law in the United States, but also violates the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy that Goodell instituted on April 10. Associating with gamblers can lead to a lifetime ban from the NFL under the policy. A player's participation in gambling raises questions about the integrity and legitimacy of the sport, and Vick having exposed himself to gambling is, "in derogation of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of an NFL player," Goodell wrote.

Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely without pay. Vick signed a 10-year, 130-million dollar contract with the Falcons in 2004.

Vick was the #1 overall draft pick in 2001

Fourth to be Sidelined

Vick becomes the fourth player suspended for violating the League's Personal Conduct Policy. In addition to Vick, the suspended players include:

Adam "Pacman" Jones, suspended for the upcoming season after being arrested five times and questioned by police 10 times since being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2005. Jones is currently working as a professional wrestler for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Terry "Tank" Johnson, waived by the Chicago Bears on July 25, was suspended by the league for eight games after violating probation on a gun charge that stemmed from a raid on his home. Johnson served a two-month jail term in March.

Chris Henry, a wide receiver for the Cincinati Bengals, also suspended for eight games. Henry was arrested four times in 14 months beginning in December 2005, and he served two days in jail in January 2007 for providing alcohol to minors.

Of the four suspended players, only Henry is currently playable in Madden NFL 08. "It's very straight forward for us," said Tyrone Miller, Senior PR Manager for Electronic Arts. "If they are playing on a team this year, they will be in the game. If they aren't, they won't. It has nothing to do with the players themselves."

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Fallen Star

The Madden NFL games rate each athlete on a 100-point scale in up to sixteen different categories depending on position. Johnson was a respectable presence in the middle of the Bears defensive line, with an overall player rating of 78 in last year's game. Jones, on the other hand, was one of the most spectacular players in 07. He had an overall rating of 82, and after a real-life season that included three punts returned for touchdowns and a league-leading 12.9 yards-per-return average, his rating would have inevitably risen in 08.

Neither player's absence carries ramifactions as severe for gamers as Vick's removal from 08. Vick's overall rating of 90 makes him the eighth-highest rated quarterback in the game, but Vick was the only player in Madden history whose style of play transcended his rating. His 97 Throw Power rating and 94 Speed rating made him almost equally capable of throwing for a 40 yard touchdown pass or scrambling for the same score.

Will he run or will he pass? Either way, a big play is inevitable.

Vick was essentially two players in one. His character dominated early versions of the game because neither the defensive AI nor opposing players were prepared for a quarterback who was as fast and evasive as any of the game's running backs. As the series has evolved, Madden's defensive playbooks have integrated more and more "QB Contain" and "QB Spy" plays, most in direct response to Vick.

Michael Vick- Madden NFL 08 Ratings

Vick will be replaced by Joey Harrington, who has an overall rating of 76. According to Madden, that makes him the 55th best quarterback in a league of 32 teams. Harrington is a more accurate passer than Vick (by a margin of 81 to 76), is slightly stronger (56 to 55) and more injury-reistant (88 to 79), but is statistically inferior to Vick in all other areas.

Joey Harrington- Madden NFL 08 Ratings

Harrington's Speed and Elusiveness ratings of 62 and 55, respectively, are common for a quarterback. In contrast, Vick's respective ratings of 94 and 98 are not only unmatched by quarterbacks, but rank among the best of all players. Harrington replacing Vick ompletely removes the extra ground threat from the Falcons' offense, and fundamentally changes the way gamers will approach the team.

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Overcoming the "Madden Curse"

Vick was rarely the dominant player in the NFL that he was in Madden, despite the occassional spectacular feat that seemed to justify his unique rating. Shortly before the 2003 season began, however, it appeared as though Vick was going to pay for the disparity between his Madden rating and his on-field performance.

Vick was chosen as cover athlete for Madden 2004, but he broke his leg early in the preseason and started only five games that year. Vick was labeled as another victim of the "Madden Curse" - a series of coincidences such that every player on the cover of the game has underperformed, retired, or been hurt the during the season they made the cover.

Madden 2004 on the Nintendo GameCube.

Undeterred by the Madden Curse, Vick made a historic return from the injury on December 7, 2003 against the Carolina Panthers. In his first start since appearing on the Madden cover, Vick ran for 141 yards and passed for another 179, personally accounting for 320 of his team's 380 total yards of offense. The Falcons won the game 20-14 in overtime.

On October 31, 2004, Vick led the Falcons to a 41-28 victory over the Denver Broncos during which he became the only player in NFL history to pass for over 250 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game.

Vick threw for 2,474 yards last season - the second-highest total of his career - while becoming the first quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season.

Michael Vick- Career Stats (2001-2006)

Although heralded as a revolutionary player for his dynamic scoring ability, Vick trails Randall Cunningham in total rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Cunningham rushed for 4,928 yards and 35 touchdowns on 775 attempts, for an average of 6.3 yards per attempt over his 16-year NFL career.

Like Vick, Cunningham was a favorite character among gamers. Cunningham was a star in Tecmo Super Bowl, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, but he was given the name "QB Eagles" due to a dispute with the National Football League Players' Association. Cunningham's ability earned "QB Eagles" the number-13 spot on The Wiire's countdown of the 25 Greatest Video Game Athletes of all time. Vick did not make the list.

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Virtual Comeback?

The Bad Newz Kennels case has tarnished Vick's public image, and his forthcoming imprisonment most likely means the end of his NFL career. Just because his professional career is near its end, however, does not mean that players have seen the last of Michael Vick in video games.

Lawrence Taylor, a Hall of Fame linebacker for the New York Giants, was suspended from the NFL in 1988 for testing positive for cocaine, but still appeared in Tecmo Bowl the following year. Even a 1996 arrest for attempted possession of crack cocaine couldn't keep Taylor from making cameo in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as fictional football star BJ Smith. Smith was a drug-addicted car salesman who admitted to robbing a liquor store on one of the game's radio stations.

LT as BJ Smith in 2002.

Taylor also starred in Blitz: The League, released in 2005. Taylor played the part of Quentin Sands, a linebacker who puts a career-ending hit on the player's star quarterback, reminiscient of the one Taylor put on Joe Theissmann on Monday Night Football in 1985. Sands, like all players in Blitz: The League, abused steroids. Players also had the option to send prostitutes to the opposing team's hotel room, a practice Taylor admitted to in a 2003 interview with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes.

O.J. Simpson is a playable character in All-Pro Football 2K8, released earlier this summer by 2K Sports. Simpson, a six-time Pro Bowl running back for the Buffalo Bills, was tried for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of all charges in the highly-publicized criminal case, but he was found liable for their deaths in a civil suit filed in 1997.

Whether Vick makes a return to video games to challenge Cunningham for the mantle of most versatile player in virtual football history remains to be seen. Until he does, gamers will suffer. His premature exit from the Madden series robs gamers of the chance to play as a one-of-a-kind character. Vick's freedom, career, and legacy are in doubt, but it is certain that Madden will never see another like him.