Maroney and Loeffler Upset With Their Representation in Madden 11

It never fails that there will be players that publicly speak out against their Madden ratings. Many go about contacting EA behind the scenes in an attempt to get their ratings boosted but others aren’t shy to go on record about it. Two as of late have cropped up. New England Patriots RB Laurence Maroney is one while Minnesota Vikings long-snapper Cullen Loeffler has a completely different gripe.

In Maroney’s case his gripe seems to be centered on his speed rating, something that seems to be a point of contention more than any other category among players as evidenced last year when TJ Houshmandzadeh made a big deal out of it. Ironically Maroney has been absent from the last two preseason games leading to speculation he has fallen way down the depth chart.

“They got me terrible on Madden, man. I wanna tell Madden that too… You know what’s crazy? When I had my little shoulder problem (in 2008), I was 93, 94 speed on Madden. After my shoulder, I came back at about 88. What’s my shoulder got to do with my feet? I know I ain’t that slow…Madden trippin’ on my speed, you know I’m not an 88. He got Fred and them faster than me. I know they ain’t faster than me.”

Cullen Loeffler though is upset that he isn’t even included on the Madden rosters. The long-time Viking is entering his seventh season and has never once appeared in a Madden game.

“I don’t even play it, mainly for the reason I’m not in it,” he admitted. “I feel disrespected.” Though Brett Favre jokingly exclaimed “I think it probably makes the game better…Who the fuck is Cullen Loeffler?”

The problem of course is that EA has hamstrung themselves by including only 53 man rosters with some of those slots ending up being taken by players on IR. That has always meant that specialists get shafted in favor of players that can better contribute in the game. It’s why there are sometimes starters playing special teams and long-snappers, such as Loeffler, are omitted because they would essentially be inconsequential. Pretty much any player can snap in Madden with no difference in the result.