Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey is learning that it doesn’t matter how productive you were in the previous season. Sometimes, the designers at EA Tiburon just occasionally drop the ball. McCaffrey’s character model in Madden 20 is only the latest example of this fact.
Recently, Slam Gaming posted an image of a screen on Madden 20 showing what was supposed to be McCaffrey. The page listing his measurables was correct, but something else was noticeably different about the Panthers running back.
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He was no longer Caucasian, which was impressive considering that Michael Jackson was the last person to change the color of his skin.
Can someone tell me what’s wrong here? 😂(via u/fasteddeh) pic.twitter.com/kaev4vdKsY
— SLAM Gaming (@SLAMftw) August 22, 2019
As it turns out, McCaffrey was not particularly worried about this error by the developers as Madden 20. He responded to the post on Twitter and said, “I don’t wear a hand warmer over my belt. C’mon, Madden.”
As someone that grew up wanting to be featured in the annual football video game, it’s impressive that the star running back wasn’t offended by the strange avatar. Plenty of other NFL figures, both players and coaches alike, have voiced their displeasure at the various character models.
For example, Arizona Cardinals first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury was very upset about the way he looked in the game. He mentioned that many players on his roster were upset about their respective ratings during an interview with the Cardinals website, and he mentioned that there was a rating he wanted to update as well. “I look like I’m on ‘The Walking Dead’ in that picture,” Kingsbury said when explaining that his “looks” rating should be changed.
No matter how he looks in the latest iteration of Madden, there is no denying that McCaffrey is one of the NFL’s young rising stars. In his two seasons as a pro, the former Stanford star went from a rotational player to the unquestioned starter, and he did so with a fury.
McCaffrey rushed for 1,098 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018, topping the mark for the first time in his career. Additionally, he tallied 867 receiving yards and another six touchdowns to further showcase his versatility.
It may take another few seasons of similar production before the developers know exactly what McCaffrey looks like, but fans of the Panthers are grateful for his presence every time he takes a handoff from quarterback Cam Newton.
