This week has proved a particularly chaotic one for fans of the Las Vegas Raiders, with head coach Jon Gruden resigning in the wake of an email scandal in which he made several racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments to colleagues.
Following his resignation, EA Sports has taken the decision to remove him from Madden 22, with an update expected in the coming weeks.
The publisher took to Twitter to share the news, noting that “generic likeness” would replace Gruden in Madden 22.
“Due to the circumstances of Jon Gruden’s resignation, we are taking steps to remove him from Madden NFL 22. We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks,” the company shared on social media.
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) October 13, 2021
The NFL is not averse to this kind of controversy and this latest incident will not be the last time such an issue rears its head.
As such, it remains to be seen what will happen to Gruden down the line, with past offences involving other players in respect to domestic violence, racism and sexual harassment quickly swept under the rug.
Hopefully though, EA Sports sticks to its guns should Gruden come back to the NFL and coach for another team. We also hope that the developer takes a similar stance when a player’s actions spark controversy as well.
