‘Madden’ To Remove Controversial TD Celebration After Damar Hamlin Incident

Madden 23

EA Sports


When Damar Hamlin collapsed on Monday Night Football, medical personnel wasted no time rushing onto the field before administering the treatment that would ultimately save his life. Bills trainer Denny Kellington has been widely credited with performing the CPR that helped to stabilize the Buffalo safety, and WR John Brown rightfully rewarded him with a touchdown ball after scoring against the Patriots in the team’s first game after the incident.

While it’s hard to think of a better (or more bittersweet) celebration than that, it’s also hard to think of anything worse than what the Steelers did on the same day. After Pittsburgh sacked DeShaun Watson in the fourth quarter of their contest against the Browns, defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal pulled the most tone-deaf move imaginable by “performing” CPR on Alex Highsmith while the linebacker was lying on the ground.

There’s no way to know what compelled Leal to go that route. However, there’s a slim chance he drew some inspiration from the Madden video game franchise, as the last few installments have given players the option to celebrate a touchdown with a choreographed CPR sequence.

According to TMZ, EA Sports has made the sage (and fairly obvious decision) to take that celebration out of the game in the wake of the Hamlin injury, as the outlet reports the company is “in the process of removing the animation” after the terrifying incident that unfolded on the gridiron during Buffalo’s game against the Bengals.

The Madden team has caught plenty of heat for removing features from the franchise as it’s supposedly “improved” the games over the years, but I think basically everyone on the planet would agree this is one thing we can go without.

Connor Toole avatar and headshot for BroBible
Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.