UPDATE: EA has responded, claiming they “messed up” and it will be fixed. See their response below the original article.
Colin Kaepernick and the National Football League are not on the best of terms, clearly — Kaepernick is the poster man for the wave of silent kneeling protests taking place during the playing of the national anthem before NFL games. The issue has gotten so out of hand, fueled by president Donald Trump’s obsessive fixation on the issue, that the NFL rolled out a new set of rules banning players from practicing the protest, lest they face fines or suspensions. Kaepernick is essentially persona non grata in the NFL, as no team will dare sign him for fear of being dragged into the controversy.
So, obviously, Kaepernick is not featured in the upcoming installment of the Madden NFL franchise. Bizarrely, however, he is mentioned in a song on the game’s soundtrack — but that mention is bleeped out. Big Sean’s verse on the YG track “Big Bank” features the line, “Feed me to the wolves, now I lead the pack and shit / You boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick,” but in the game’s version of the song, the name “Colin Kaepernick” is treated as a cuss word, edited out of the song.
bad enough @Kaepernick7 still not signed, but now they even edit his name out in this year’s @EAMaddenNFL during @BigSean verse, smh pic.twitter.com/3nvkB26z5r
— Mr. Changing Lives (@jeanclervil) August 2, 2018
The relationship between the two is obviously fraught, but this seems like a petty act to take on the part of whoever compiled Madden NFL 19‘s soundtrack
UPDATE: EA Sports has responded to the controversy, providing the following statement to Forbes:
“We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack. Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks. We messed up, and the edit should never have happened. We will make it right, with an update to Madden NFL 19 on August 6 that will include the reference again. We meant no disrespect, and we apologize to Colin, to YG and Big Sean, to the NFL, to all of their fans and our players for this mistake.”
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