The latest version of Madden includes a reference to Colin Kaepernick in a song — only the song was censored to remove his name. The former 49ers quarterback is also no longer featured in the video game, although he was listed as a free agent in Madden 18.
Colin Kaepernick’s name was removed from 2 Madden songs. Here’s what we know
This is the second year Kaepernick’s name has been scrubbed from a track in the NFL video game
Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated
This is the second year in a row that EA Sports has removed Kaepernick’s name from a song
“Big Bank,” one of the songs featured on this year’s Madden, includes the line “You boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick.” However, the Madden version censored the word “Kaepernick,” leading many to believe this move was made intentionally. Colin Kaepernick is currently aiming to prove that the teams are colluding to keep him out of the league for taking knee during the national anthem to protest racial discrimination by police in America.
This isn’t even the first time that EA Sports has edited his name off a song. Last year’s Madden 18 featured “Bars Of Soap” by Mike WiLL Made-It. That song also has Colin Kaepernick’s last name in the line “She be hopin’ that I take a knee like Kaepernick, yes.” His exclusion from this song in particular, given the context, would suggest that this was done intentionally by either EA Sports or the NFL. Doing the same thing again the following year only solidifies that idea.
Big Sean and YG both said they had nothing to do with the Kaepernick edit
After learning about the change, Big Sean went to Twitter to voice his disappointment over the edit and said he had no involvement in the decision.
YG also recorded a video on Instagram, saying he would be waiting for an apology from either EA Sports or the NFL.
I want my homie Colin Kaepernick to know that i ain’t had nothing to do with it, with that Madden shit. I didn’t approve that. Big Sean didn’t approve that Nicki Minaj didn’t approve that. 2 Chainz didn’t approve that. We ain’t got nothing to do with that. I support you. I’m a big supporter of you. You’re the homie, you know what I’m saying? EA Sports, NFL, whoever — y’all owe me, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Nicki Minaj, and the homie Kaepernick and an apology … I’ll be looking for an apology soon.
A few days later, Kaepernick posted a video on Instagram that shows Big Sean and YG at a concert repeating the line “You boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick!” several times in front of several men kneeling on stage.
What was Colin Kaepernick’s response?
Aside from a tweet that thanks Big Sean for his support, Colin Kaepernick initially didn’t talk directly talked about his exclusion from the tracks in Madden. Throughout Thursday, however, he did retweet various accounts on the subject:
EA Sports has since apologized and promised that a patch would fix the error
According to EA Sports, a member of their team thought not having the rights to Colin Kaeprnick’s likeness meant they had to exclude references to him in any medium as it relates to the video game.
EA Sports will release an update to fix this on August 6. The game will officially be released on August 10.
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