EA Sports has decided to remove a very specific touchdown celebration from NFL Madden 23 in light of the startling cardiac arrest suffered by Buffalo Bills cornerback Damar Hamlin during the first quarter of the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Hamlin collapsed on the field after he made a tackle and needed medical assistance on the field, including oxygen and CPR before finally being taken away via stretcher with a breathing tube apparatus.
Thankfully, Hamlin recovered and is no longer in critical condition, although with the context of the CPR that had to be administered on the field to save his life, the Madden NFL 23 CPR touchdown celebration, which depicts one player on the scoring team laying on the ground while another teammate pretends to administer CPR and a third pantomimes using a defibrillator, is now in poor taste and will be removed from the game.
“EA Sports is taking steps to remove the celebration from Madden NFL 23 via an update in the coming days,” an EA Sports spokesperson told media.
Hamlin has been released from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and has been relocated to a Buffalo-area hospital to continue recovering from the incident.
EA Sports aren’t the only ones who are apologetic for such a touchdown celebration; this past Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith participated in a celebratory dance very similar to the Madden NFL 23 CPR touchdown celebration after sacking Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
“I just don’t want people to think of me that way and think I was doing anything [intentional],” Highsmith said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Because I would never, ever, ever, ever want to do that intentionally, and I never ever would do that.”
Do you think removing the Madden NFL 23 CPR touchdown celebration was the right move? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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