Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes will be on the cover of Madden NFL 22, but EA Sports' game won't feature another GOAT -- New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick isn't in the NFL Coaches Association, so he's not in the game because the NFLCA isn't able to authorize EA Sports -- or any other company -- to use the name, image or likeness of the most accomplished head coach in NFL history.
Bernd Buchmasser of Pats Pulpit notes that Belichick hasn't appeared in the game since 2005 -- when Ray Lewis was on the cover -- and also passed along this interaction that the famed head coach had when asked about the game in 2015:
Q: Since you were in the coaches’ picture, are you going to be in the Madden game?
BB: What Madden game?
Q: John Madden has this video game...
BB: I have no idea. You should ask John about that.
So who is the head coach of the Patriots in Madden? Initially, it was a man simply named "NE Coach." In recent editions of the game, a young coach named "Griffin Murphy" has been the head coach of the Patriots. In between NE Coach and Griffin Murphy, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were coached by the likes of "Josh Moore" and "Chad Masters." None are believed to have worn hoodies with cut off sleeves.
Belichick is far from the only notable sports figure not to be featured in video games because of union membership issues. Back when EA Sports made an annual baseball game, Barry Bonds wasn't in MVP Baseball because he wasn't a member of the player's union. Instead, he was replaced by the mythical veteran slugger Jon Dowd.
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