With all of the talk around EA Sports bringing back the College Football Game for the 2024-25 season, not too many gamers have been all that intrigued with the new Madden NFL 25 game that is set to release in mid-August. But a recent trailer release for the new Madden game has sparked a debate as to whether the game has perhaps strayed too far from the realism of the NFL.
The trailer kicked off with new Steelers quarterback Justin Fields returning a kick for the Steelers, then handing the ball off to legendary kick returner Cordarelle Patterson.
Nothing hits like Boom Tech in #Madden25
Available 8.16.24.
Pre-Order Today: https://t.co/WTlY9pZQX1 pic.twitter.com/odBgvVIrGF— Madden NFL 25 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 20, 2024
The Steelers of course brought in Fields to compete with veteran quarterback Russell Wilson for the starting quarterback job.
As far as kick returning for the fourth-year quarterback, it’s something that he has never done in his career. Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith joked about Fields potentially returning kicks this coming season with the new kickoff rules. But Fields quickly shot down the possibility in a conversation with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month.
“Nah, I think everybody kind of interpreted it wrong,” Fields told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Coach Danny was basically just trying to send a message that no matter who you are, you could be on special teams. He just used that as an example.”
This creates some obvious questions regarding Madden 25. Have the developers made it possible that you can put in any player in as a kick returner? Or does Fields have some sort of special dual-position eligibility in the game that allows for him to field kickoffs unlike any other quarterback? It’s also possible that the Madden 25 developers are also simply just playing into the joke around Fields taking on kickoff duties.
Regardless, many fans of the game took to social media to offer their critiques of the trailer when it comes to Fields.
That…that's Justin Fields returning kicks https://t.co/MyEqruv3uW pic.twitter.com/v7upZ2jTVD
— 79th & Halas Podcast (@79thAndHalas) June 20, 2024
Justin Fields returning a kickoff on the Madden trailer is…something pic.twitter.com/jbJcgVGBkd
— Harrison Graham (@HGrahamNFL) June 20, 2024
Noted kickoff returner Justin Fieldspic.twitter.com/4vNaaLwcLx
— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) June 20, 2024