What in the wide, wide world of sports were the makers of Madden 26 thinking?
The good folks at EA Sports make a fine video game, but apparently winning Defensive Player of the Year isn’t quite good enough to achieve the game’s top player ranking, a 99.
Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II, one of the quietest superstars pro football has ever seen, quietly and briefly issued his own, very subtle protest.
An emoji.
In fact, he sent it to Chad Ochocinco via X; Ochocinco is a “ratings adjuster” for EA Sports. In essence, without saying a word, the best cornerback in the league questioned why he wasn’t in the “99 Club.” Only seven players in the NFL are. Only one player in the NFL is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
Surtain has been on a tear ever since his rookie debut in 2021. Through four seasons, Surtain has totaled 11 interceptions – including two picksixes – and three consecutive Pro Bowl selections. His ascent culminated in a 2024 campaign that saw him become (briefly) the highest-paid cornerback in the league as well as the DPOY, an honor only one Bronco has earned prior. Randy Gradishar held the same title in 1978.
Gradishar might have earned a 99 in the famed Madden video game, but at the time, the Atari 2600 was still a year away from its debut. Oddly, the only defensive player heading into the 2025 season rated 99 on Madden 26 is Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett.
It’s not as if many – if any – players, however, wouldn’t trade spots with Surtain – despite his Madden rating of only 97. The Broncos corner took home the most coveted hardware a defensive player can earn, met Michael Jordan over the summer and enters the new season with a $96 million contract in tow.
“Give it your all, and don’t think about the results,” Surtain told Mile High Sports Magazine a few days after signing the contract. Surely, the opinion of a video game won’t garner much thought.
“Adding (Defensive Player of the Year to my résumé, it’s pretty cool, but honestly,” Surtain told the media gathered at training camp. “I just stay grounded and stay humble and stay in the thick of things. You can be at the top like that and fall that quickly, so I just go back to my work, and the work I put in each and every year. It was a busier offseason than usual. I also enjoy the fruits of my labor, but I know there’s still more work ahead for me to do.”
Perhaps earning that 99 rating appears on his to-do list.
“A shutdown corner does his job quietly,” 9News reporter Mike Klis said. “When he does his job at a Hall of Fame caliber, you never notice him in a game.”
Apparently, the Madden makers didn’t, either.
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“While opponents aren’t ignoring Surtain’s side of the field like they did with Champ Bailey back in the day, he’s rapidly gaining that kind of respect. Let’s guess 5 interceptions this for the reigning DPOY, as quarterbacks continue to find out the hard way that PS2 is CB1.”
-Shawn Drotar
