Sure, the annual Madden ratings are a big deal to football players -- and for the particularly egotistical ones, it’s natural to feel that the game doesn’t properly assess their talents. But this one crosses a bit too far into ridiculousness. Seattle Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (that’s HOOSH-mund-ZA-deh) feels that Madden NFL 10 has underrated him at a 91, so in a show of protest, he declared on Colin Cowherd’s ESPN Radio show on Monday that he won’t be playing the game.
Houshmandzadeh had played his entire career for the Cincinnati Bengals until he signed with the Seahawks during the offseason, and what’s the first thing he did, before even playing a preseason game in a Seahawks uniform? Why, blame his former team for his shortcomings, of course:
Man, they don't get my rating right ... I just looked at the game and they have this wrong and that wrong. And I understand I averaged 10 yards a catch [in 2008], but it's the offense, man, not me.
In case you were wondering, Madden 10 lists Houshmandzadeh as the sixth-best receiver in the NFC; the five ranked above him (co-cover athlete Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin, Roddy White, and Calvin Johnson) each had at least two more touchdowns than he did in 2008, and he’s the only one of the six who didn’t have at least 1,000 yards receiving. It sounds to me like the ratings are pretty fair.
Of course, he claims he’s better than the numbers say he is -- even though sports videogame ratings are generally based on the prior year’s statistical performance -- and he’s adamant that EA Tiburon has wronged him (though he admits that “it might be a little pouting, too”). “I’m not playing Madden no more [sic], until they get my rating right,” he whines. For Seahawks fans’ sake, let’s hope he puts his money where his mouth is in the 2009 NFL season.
[Via FOX Sports; image via Raymond Yee on Flickr]
Samit Sarkar is a founding Destructoid editor and go-to Sports guy. Samit was the son of the Duke of Knees, rescued from a burning village in the afghan desert by a golden condor. He is an ace Backgammon player and lost both legs in a whaling tour. He lives for free in a nursery in Scotland where he teaches monks how to capture butterflies without hurting them.
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Contest:
2:00 AM on 07.23.2009
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It's been a common comical rib against EA for NFL players to disagree with their player rating(s).
I've seen interviews with NFL players joking that they are not rated high enough. None of the players ever seemed angry or upset.
This player's remarks are probably taken out of context.
Carry on...
A monkey would be good at this hanball game you have, I would give him a 92.
Either way, doesn't matter. I'm with IzekialRage.
The Steelers will dominate for a second year in a row. Get out them Terrible Towels!
Also on a separate point, did you hear about Lebron's little tiff over this video of him getting dunked on Samit? I saw it yesterday, some college player from Indiana dunked on him in some scrimmage game for some event. Instead of him laughing it off he went around to Nike, who was filming the event, and asked for the tapes so he wouldn't been seen by everyone getting dunked on. Well guess what moron, they video got out, lots of people have seen it, and you look like more of a moron now. Instead of taking it in stride you get all butt hurt, and you look like more of a vane prick now than you did before.
Also, I don't know if Housh should be roasted for having a big ego, here. I think this story mostly seems ridiculous because it has been blown up so much. It was on the main stories section for MSN.com yesterday, for God's sake? A guy's decision not to play Madden for a year is big news?
Let's be honest here...none of us would take kindly to being given a number that we don't feel properly reflects our abilities in our career or biggest pursuit in life. Shit, Samit himself would crap a brick if Game Writer '10 came out and gave him an 84 rating in grammar.
I didn'y even know football players held Madden games in such high esteem.
@akathatoneguy: That's why I said "generally." Obviously, more goes into it than just stats, especially for the "intangibles" that differentiate the best players from the merely good ones, but it seems to me that stats are the majority factor in determining ratings.
Anyway, I wasn't trying to nit-pick, but...well, I probably did anyway. My bad.