NFL Players Prepare For Annual ‘Madden Bowl’
As Super Bowl XLIII approaches, NFL players and celebrities are gearing up in Florida for the annual videogame competition, the Madden Bowl.
The best NFL pros are set to compete in the 15th annual tournament on Thursday in a single-elimination challenge to find out who the best "Madden NFL 09" gamer is on Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
New York Jets’ wide receiver Brad Smith told Reuters a lot of guys play video games, especially "Madden," and everybody thinks they’re good.
“The Madden Bowl allows players to find out who’s the best and you want to have those bragging rights for the next year," he said.
This year, Arizona Cardinals running back Edgerrin James and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker are two opponents who will be competing against each other on Super Bowl Sunday and on the virtual gridiron.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Bryant, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck and Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware are just a few of the other NFL greats who will pick up the controllers for the annual Madden Bowl.
Madden Bowl XV will boast the first ever Rookie Play-In game between quarterbacks Mark Sanchez of the USC Trojans and Matt Stafford of the Georgia Bulldogs, both of whom have declared for the upcoming NFL Draft.
EA Sports said the winner of this pre-tournament game would earn a spot in the big competition that always take place in the home city of the Super Bowl.
Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee won last year’s tournament in Arizona after defeating Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch.
Lynch said he never expected to make it past the first round because he’s not a big "Madden" player like some of the other contestants. "When I got to the championship game, my first thought was, "Damn, there’s somebody out there that’s worse than me.""
During the festivities, Microsoft announced its own competition to let gamers at home play "Madden NFL 09" against Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis on the Xbox Live.
Some of the biggest names in the NFL, including popular wide receivers like Terrell Owens (Dallas Cowboys), Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals) and Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) are expected to take part.
Jon Robinson, editor at ESPNVideogames.com, said when Madden Bowl first started EA had to almost beg people to attend.
"Fourteen years later they’re turning people away."
“The Madden Bowl started coming together as a media event around 2000, when celebrities like P. Diddy and athletes like Joe Montana and Barry Sanders started attending,” said Tom Goedde, vice president of marketing at EA Sports.
“Now satellite trucks line up outside and hundreds of media reporters cover the event and the celebrities attending the bash.”
Michael Pachter, a videogame analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, suggested that the Madden Bowl is designed to show retailers that EA will promote the game heavily, and it encourages them to participate by promoting "Madden" throughout the Super Bowl build-up.
"A couple years ago we doubled down and partnered with NFL PLAYERS to put on the Rookie Madden Bowl in Los Angeles in May and it’s been fun to get the young guys in the mix as well," said Goedde.
The last Rookie Madden Bowl in May 2008 in Santa Monica was won by Washington Redskins wide receiver Devin Thomas.
"You take a bunch of guys who are competitive on the field and give them videogames and it makes for a great event," said Thomas. "It’s something we all love to see."
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