NFL training camp is on the horizon, and that means player ratings are beginning to trickle out for the upcoming “Madden NFL 23” video game. The annual game is a big deal for some NFL players, who put some real stock into how the developers rate their skills.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is one of them. Chase was not pleased to be left off the game’s list of the top 10 receivers, and tweeted that he was using the snub as “extra motivation.”
Chase got some solid reassurance from a great source in the form of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. Brady responded to Chase by noting that he had been left out of the game completely in his second NFL season.
Brady is actually correct. He is not on the Patriots’ roster in Madden 2002, according to Madden Ratings, a website that chronicles the rosters and ratings from various iterations of the game. Damon Huard and Michael Bishop are in as Drew Bledsoe’s two backups instead. Of course Brady would remember this, even though it was a minor thing that happened over 20 years ago.
Chase has a point here, though. He finished fourth in the NFL in receiving yards and third in touchdown receptions, and he did it as a rookie. Amari Cooper has never had a season that successful statistically and he is ranked higher. That one just doesn’t really check out.
In complaining about his rating, Chase is keeping some good company. If he keeps putting up the numbers, he should have no problem rocketing up the list fairly quickly.
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