Former San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick will return to the “Madden NFL” video game franchise for the first time in four years.
Kaepernick will appear as a free-agent quarterback in “Madden 21,” and fans can add Kaepernick to any NFL team in franchise mode or play him in ‘Play Now’. The game was just released the other week to middling reviews, though should get a boost from Kaepernick’s inclusion which will be a part of an update.
Kaepernick debuted in the video game as a rookie in 2011 until his most recent appearance in 2016’s “Madden 17” which was released a week before the now famous game between the 49ers and Houston Texans. During said game Kaepernick knelt during the performance of the national anthem in protest against racial injustice and police brutality in America.
At the end of the season he opted out of his contract at the end of the season and has remained a free agent since. EA Sports say he was removed from subsequent “Madden NFL” titles because he was no longer included in the licensing contract with the NFL Players Association. They say in a statement:
“Colin Kaepernick is one of the top free agents in football and a starting-caliber quarterback. The team at EA Sports, along with millions of ‘Madden NFL’ fans, want to see him back in our game. We’ve had a long relationship with Colin through ‘Madden NFL’ and worked through our past soundtrack mistakes. Knowing that our EA Sports experiences are platforms for players to create, we want to make ‘Madden NFL’ a place that reflects Colin’s position and talent, rates him as a starting QB, and empowers our fans to express their hopes for the future of football. We’ve worked with Colin to make this possible, and we’re excited to bring it to all of you today.”
Kaepernick will be rated as an 81 overall in the game and is the highest-rated free agent. That rating is said to be based on prior on-field performance along with EA’s data-driven ratings simulations.
Kaepernick has recently been working with filmmaker Ava DuVernay on a Netflix series based on his teenage years and is finishing a memoir that will discuss his decision to protest on the field.
Source: CNN
