EA Sports Rep on Michael Vick in Madden 04: 'It Wasn't Intentional' but Was 'Magical'

Not even the people behind Madden NFL 2004 imagined cover star Michael Vick carving out a special place in video game lore.

Almost anybody who played Madden 2004 will fondly recall how Vick's dual-threat abilities made him nearly unstoppable. EA Sports head designer Donny Moore, who helped formulate the individual player ratings for the game, told ESPN's David Fleming that wasn't entirely by design.

"Twenty years later it's funny how it all works out," Moore said. "It wasn't intentional what we did with Vick, but, looking back, it was beautiful the way it all turned out, magical almost."

Vick, on the other hand, felt he was going to set a new standard following a conversation with Madden 2004's developers.

"I told them, I'm going to play this way until the end of times," he said to Fleming. "So the game should be the exact duplicate of what you saw on the field. I felt like that was only right, and I told EA that and they agreed. They said, 'OK then, we aren't holding anything back, this is you, this is Mike Vick the player: Bo Jackson and Steve Young in one body, that's what we went for.' That's when I knew it was going to be special."

Depending on whether you were playing offense or defense, Vick was either the best or worst thing to happen to Madden.

Thanks to the southpaw's 95 ratings for speed and agility, you could easily gain large chunks of yards when scrambling out of the pocket. His 97 arm strength rating made him a dangerous passer as well.

Even with the proliferation of dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL, no player has since come close to replicating Vick's singular dominance in the Madden franchise.

Making Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis the cover star for Madden NFL 2005 was a sign of the game's increased focus on defense. Fleming also wrote how defenders became faster as well, while it became easier for gamers to scheme against quarterbacks with nickel and dime defensive packages.

"That's all Vick's influence," Moore said. "He forced us to up our game, too. That's why his impact on the industry will never be matched. He changed the future of video game football."