Remembering Great Video Game Footballers: It Keeps Gamers Dreaming Big

“In a world where I feel so small

I can’t stop thinking big”

      RUSH – “Caravan” from the soon to be released disc ‘Clockwork Angels’.  

       See RUSH this summer on their Time Machine Tour featuring Moving Pictures

      and new music as well.  See RUSH.com for more details.

The Personal Journey

Maybe video gaming isn’t your thing, or perhaps it is.  It’s ironic that in a world so big and rich with sports and big sports stories that I was asked to cover something so seemingly small.  Instead of doing another hardcore article on Tim Tebow or the Denver Broncos, I was asked to produce a Top 30 list of the greatest all-time digital football dudes. 

It’s enough to make a writer feel small, unless of course I can’t stop thinking big!

As a hard hitting writer for BleacherReport.com covering the Denver Broncos, I was challenged to take the assignment seriously, after all it's video games we’re talking about here. 

It’s not like I’ve never played video game football before.  I have to admit I’ve played video games since my pre-teens on the old Atari systems and other legacy systems up through the Playstation and X-Box generation.  I’m not your die-hard HALO or Call of Duty player let alone your die-hard adventure gamer by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s not to say I couldn’t have fun playing those games, it’s just there aren’t enough hours in the day for me personally.

Guys my age grew up in the era where reality started to transfer tangibly into the alternate universe, the cyber-matrix of video gaming!  The key difference for us was that we played sports, real sports, in the real outdoors when we were kids.  Video games were more of quick filler than the time-suck that they have grown into.  My generation has seen and played many of the worst low-level games and the very best there is to offer.  This is where it needs to be said: There is no substitute for reality, but video games can be a great release from time to time, even if they are a time-suck now and again.

Being rooted in reality makes this assignment seem a little odd, as fun as its intentions are, Top Video Game Football Players lists have already been done, on this site nonetheless.  Up front, it’s hard to quantify, and it’s hard to be the absolute “authority” on the matter because the nature of gaming and game versions and the like. 

So my up front confession is simply this: I’d much rather play sports than watch them.  I’d much rather watch the real AFC Championship game than play a video game version of it.  However, I’d gladly do both given enough time in the day, which I find there usually isn’t to do all the fun things we’d all like to do in a day.

So growing up I always wanted to play baseball or football professionally but I never had the entire package for either sport to make it to the highest level.  John Gruden in his personal biography considered himself a “ham and eggs” quarterback in college, that’s probably somewhere around where I would rate as an athlete.  I’m not really the guy you’d willingly pick to be your starting quarterback based on dimensions and limitations.  Rather I’m a guy like many of the readers out there who would put in a hard day's work to get the job done, and would love doing it.  Furthermore, my mind for sports, especially football and baseball is as good as it gets.      

It’s not like the gene pool is lacking entirely—my brother once was given serious looks by two Major League Baseball clubs as a knuckleball pitcher.  Things just didn’t work out, and life goes on.

Having personally played every position in baseball and football growing up it gave me greater perspective on player demands along with the essential fundamentals and core techniques essential for success.  Ultimately it helped to shape part of my coaching mind.  I played for primarily good coaches in my life, but there was one coach that stuck out like a sore thumb.  It was the most humbling and character building time playing for a coach that had no vision beyond “his guys,” especially if you were the new guy in the fold. 

So when I write regularly about the plight of a Brandon Marshall or a Tony Scheffler and the like, I can relate on a personal level.  Change is good and will prove to be down the road for both of them, but what is even better is a coach who can adapt to the talent he has in house.

I guess that’s where I try to draw the impractical line between video games and reality.  In video games you are the coach and players' feelings don’t come into play.  The depth charts are meaningless in theory and mean everything in the application of how you use your players.  The schemes you choose are ultimately up to you, that is the fun and empowering thing about video football these days.  So let’s catch some perspective on how we got here.

In The Beginning Electronic Football Was Small

Around 1977 Mattel's Intellivision released a few sports related games which featured red dots or dashes used for simulating baseball, basketball, and football games.  The units were hand-held devices similar in nature to the modern PSP.  The graphics were however as poor as it gets, and the red dashes would burn your eyes after hours of use.

My brother and I loved the football and basketball games.  The first version of football was run only, where as the second version opened up the ability to pass.  The basketball game's second version would allow variations of the three-point shot at the high school, college, and professional level.  My brother would routinely score over 200 points versus the clock on that game.  It was unreal, and a lot of fun for a couple pre-teens so we would play those games a ton until the red dashes burned our eyes or the batteries went dead.

Then there was Atari Football in 1978 that started it all on the TV.  Ironically enough, it was in the midst of one of the NFL’s greatest concentrations of elite teams with the Steelers, Cowboys, Raiders, Dolphins, Vikings, Rams, and the upstart Broncos all dominating the league. 

ColecoVision and the Atari II re-introduced football around 1979, this time with action graphics and players that moved their legs and arms.  It was no longer Space Invaders playing football.  The Atari II console however had flimsy controllers that would break with too much force placed upon the directional stick.  

From there in the mid 1980s Tecmo Bowl and John Elway’s game started to shape the future of video football, one that would become mastered and refined by the John Madden Football franchise.

John Elway Football and Tecmo Bowl

So here is the problem with writing a story like this.  It’s hard to compare an apple to an orange.  The fact is in the video game world, you can’t.  There are time-periods and software versions to consider until all of the blah-blah details make you blue in the face.

Without a doubt, most video football connoisseurs would say that Walter Payton on Tecmo Bowl with the ’85 Bears was the most dominating player of all time.  The reason is it took entire teams, not individual players to tackle Walter.   Additionally he never fumbled the ball in Tecmo Bowl . 

Lawrence Taylor was also a dominating figure for the Giants, essentially impossible to block, but even he had trouble wrapping up Walter Payton.

Others might say it was Bo Jackson with the Raiders on Tecmo Bowl who was the best but he was essentially given the same level of skills as Walter Payton in the same game, just a few years later.

John Elway’s game was pretty sweet for the day because the emphasis was on the passing game.  It meant actual passing routes and passing trees were starting to be implemented into video games.  Elway’s game was a good template for Madden and NCAA Football to work from, but it needed improvements.

John Madden’s Realism Brings About Tecmo Bowl's Demise

Essentially by the early 1990s if you wanted to ever know anything about video game football you had to know John Madden Football and its evolution.  The key step here is that it was the first realistic eleven on eleven football game to hit the open market. 

EA Sports sought out John Madden and his celebrity to help bring their vision of a realistic video game experience to the fans that were eager for the product.  Moreover, the game had the appeal to gain repeat customers year after year with the technology upgrades and revisions on game play.  It soon became the ultimate sports cult classic game to play.  It was a match made in heaven, one that helped to catapult John Madden’s celebrity while ensconcing him in the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

The Fallout Surrounding John Madden Football

There is real fallout surrounding the John Madden Football franchise.  It’s a real world problem, and has given John Madden, the NFL, and even gaming a black eye.  The issue stems from the fact that the Madden franchise has become so successful, that it failed to account for the roles of former players in making the franchise boom. 

Many players who have health issues after leaving the NFL have claimed that Madden has exploited them without helping their cause after football.  The founding fathers that have helped to make the NFL what it is, as big as it is, have been overlooked even though their personal likeness is represented in some of the all-time teams inside the video game.  Therein lies a real quirk with more recent versions of Madden .

Say you play the Broncos of old; you want to play QB with John Elway No. 7, now you wind up playing an Elway clone wearing No. 3 or something of the like.  The credibility of the game, something they worked very hard in establishing goes out the door and suddenly goes back in time to pure arcade grade football games. 

It’s a dicey issue but EA Sports, Madden Football , and the NFL would not make money without the foundation laid by the legacy players.  It seems there should be something workable to create a fund for aging players who have real health issues, but that has yet to be entirely solidified by the parties involved.

Honorable Mentions

There are other games that deserve mention briefly for their contributions to the football world.  In 1991 Sega Genesis had Bill Walsh NCAA Football , which was phenomenal and introduced the option offense.  I once played eight or nine games in one night against a friend of mine near the end of my college years.  It was all about the CU-Nebraska rivalry, good times, and very memorable indeed. 

Another game is NFL Blitz which was heavy arcade action that came out around 1998.  It was essentially NFL teams without the rules; it featured the most attention getting announcer with one of the greatest lines of all time:  “OOHHHH!!!  That was completely unnecessary!  But a lot of fun to watch!”

Finally, most recently the NFL Street Franchise is superior in personality and receives high marks for entertainment value.  Additionally, it gets thumbs up for teaching us all about style points , this game rocks! 

The Best of the Best

All of the following are based off John Madden Football versions since it’s the most realistic football experience.  The following is my personal listing and why.  If you have your own, please add them to the comments section! 

Top 4 Quarterbacks

John Elway - He was the full package in real life and Madden always did a good job of representing his full potential.  I loved playing my Raiders friends with Elway because they could not stop his arm from dissecting their defenses on any version of the game.

Peyton Manning – If you thought Elway was good, Manning is brutal in the modern versions of Madden .  Manning is going to statistically be the greatest QB of all time eventually; he may not have a lot of championships however.  In Madden , he will dissect any team, any where.  The best hope when playing against Manning is to contain him because you won’t entirely stop him.

Dan Marino - Laser arm, quickest release of all time.

Tom Brady – His offensive scheme is pretty good and has a lot of options for problem solving, plus he’s Tom Brady and having Randy Moss in digital is better than the real deal.

Top Five Running Backs

Marcus Allen - Easily the greatest short yardage back of all time, nothing changes in Madden either.  Run a counter or an ISO to the left side of the line with the ’84 Raiders, the best defenses can’t stop it.

Terrell Davis – TD would pound on opponents and open up all of the other Broncos options.  Counter plays were lethal with TD off the left side.

Barry Sanders – One word: Illusive.

LaDainian Tomlinson – Breaks team tackles.

Emmitt Smith – Just like he was in real life, he was a strong back who was hard to stop entirely.  He helps to balance the old Cowboy attack and look out if he reaches the corner.

Top Two O-Lines

Oakland Raiders - Probably the most reliable short yardage line in the alternate universe is the ’84 Raiders.   They just get the short yards and you can’t stop them.

Denver Broncos – The ’97 -’99 offensive lines are just brutal on any defense, stretching defenses better than most offensive lines.

Top Five Defenses

’85 Bears – The legends exist for a reason.  There is only so much a good offensive team can do against them; poor offensive teams have no shot.

2000 Ravens - Ray Lewis is hard to stop and if he won’t get you the pass pressure will.

Philadelphia Eagles – The last decade the Eagles have had one of the best defenses in the NFL and in Madden with Brian Dawkins personally stopping completions regularly. 

On a personal note, B-Dawk also kept me from winning an annual Madden Championship I used to play in with a group of friends.  In that game I had a 21-point lead that wound up becoming a 20-point deficit that was nearly overcome entirely.  I still can’t comprehend how I gave up 41 consecutive points in a championship game however.  I had time for one last play; if I score the TD I likely win the championship with a PAT.  From the 20 yard line, Jake Plummer connected with Ashley Lelie on the goal line with a deep cross route where he was lit up by Brian Dawkins just prior to crossing the goal line.  To this day the guy I played against, Carl can only smile about that one.  It was by far the most exciting and most disappointing game of Madden Football all in one.

Top Four Hitters – These guys just cause turnovers!

Ray Lewis

Brian Dawkins

Lawrence Taylor

Steve Atwater

Best Cover Corner

Champ Bailey - Hands down, can you say "Pick?"

So there you go, that’s my personal take I encourage you to share yours!

For the future generations of football games—keep thinking and dreaming big!

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