Despite all the technology provided by new consoles and Madden 25, every year we get players that look nothing like their real-life counterparts. A few years ago in Madden 20, Greg Olsen and Philip Lindsay were among the completely unidentifiable player models. It’s even worse because professional football players are some of the most easily recognizable people in the world.
This is even more true for Marvin Harrison Jr., the Arizona Cardinals’ first-round pick. Not only is he a famous NFL player, but he’s also the son of an NFL Hall of Fame inductee. Um, let me reveal Madden 25’s Marvin Harrison Jr. player model from the NFL Draft:
This guy doesn’t even look like anyone Marvin Harrison Jr. knows, let alone the real Marvin Harrison Jr. This picture went viral today, and not for any good reason. I’m afraid it’s about to get worse. Check out this disrespectful mess:
This picture is borderline problematic. Not only does it not look like Harrison, it barely looks like a real person. Why is his expression a blank, soulless stare? The first picture was so off that it made me and much of the football-loving internet laugh. As a black man, this picture makes me uncomfortable.
I know EA Sports didn’t want Harrison to look like a disturbing caricature. There’s no point. It just creates a PR nightmare. But that’s the way it is. I hope they fix it soon. There are players whose likeness they can just send in over the phone and no one except their family will notice or care. Ultimate Team is full of guys who don’t even have a picture on their card.
But if you’re going to say that something that’s in the game is in the game, you’ve got to come up with something more. Thank God these horrible faces don’t exist in real NFL football games.