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Bill Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history. There, I said it. As a Cleveland Browns fan who once saw the guy roam the sidelines of my very team — and not have the same success he’s had with the New England Patriots — trust me, typing that prior sentence wasn’t easy. But the truth lies with his six Super Bowl rings in Foxborough, which has set him up to become a Hall of Famer at some point.
Here’s the thing about Belichick, though: As great as he is as a head coach, he’s a bit bland when it comes to all the other stuff that comes along with the NFL. He hates answering questions from reporters — although he has his funny moments at times. He’s sort of a grouch when it comes to anything not football related. He’s no nonsense. And, because of that, he’s proven that it’s his way or the highway — but it clearly works well for him.
Another interesting thing about Bill Belichick, which gamers have probably noticed? His likeness has never been featured in the Madden NFL franchise.
That’s right, the greatest coach the sport has ever seen is represented as some dude named “Chad Masters” in Madden NFL 20, who is the head coach of the Patriots in the video game. Doesn’t seem like this Masters’ dude has the Hall of Fame credentials of Belichick, does it?
Was it Madden coaching legend Chad Masters? RT @DardDog you better watch out Paul, an unnamed high school football coach told him so pic.twitter.com/Oc5FV0KFCk
— Paul Gallant (@GallantSays) January 5, 2017
So that leads to the question of why Bill Belichick isn’t in the Madden NFL franchise. According to Sporting News, it’s because the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach isn’t part of the NFL Coaches Association, which is the organization that EA Sports has an agreement with to use the name and likeness of the league’s coaches. The video game production company struck a deal with the league ahead of the Madden release in 2001, and have kept it since.
But why isn’t Belichick part of the NFLCA? There isn’t a clear-cut answer, but a Yahoo! Sports article written by Dan Wetzel from 2012 sort of gives a little bit of an explanation.
Belichick loves this kind of stuff, say his friends and associates, who never want to be quoted when speaking in depth about him.
He loves it because he hates so much of the nonsense that surrounds football, has a longstanding disdain for the league office and carries a rebel streak that finds greater joy in making a defiant stand than cashing a check. Rather than give a ranting speech about the sideshow nature of the NFL, he’d prefer the passive-aggressive nature of a quiet protest and hope the world picks up on it.
That’s right, Bill Belichick seems to love the game of football so much that he turns down a paycheck each year from EA Sports instead of “selling out” by allowing the Madden NFL franchise to use his likeness. That’s actually kind of a baller move, especially when considering all he has to do is sign a piece of paper with the NFL Coaches Association to earn the cash.
As for any missing players in the Madden NFL franchise — like when former Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas didn’t appear in the game while he was still in the league — like Belichick, it’s because they haven’t joined the NFLPA, which is what represents players’ likeness.
Unless Bill Belichick decides to join the NFLCA, which seems highly unlikely at this point, you’ll have to try and win the Super Bowl as the Patriots with Chad Masters running the show.