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NFL stars not competing in Super Bowl will play Madden instead
Posted 02/01/2012 at 12:53pm | by Kevin W. Smith
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If you’re not busy tomorrow (Thursday) and enjoy football, a marathon of digital-pigskin-related entertainment will be happening on Xbox Live thanks to Madden Bowl XVIII.
For starters, if you send a friend request to the Gamertag “NFLBaller2012”, then start playing Madden 12 on Xbox at 5:30 (EST) tomorrow, there's a possibility you may get a game invite from an as yet unnamed (but assuredly real) NFL player. The announcement sent out to press reminded folks not forget a headset to participate in this "Game With Fame" event, presumably so you can ask the given NFL player you're competing against why his team didn’t make into the Super Bowl this year.
Later on, starting at 9 p.m. (EST) on Xbox Live’s ESPN app, you can watch former and current NFL players square off in the Madden Bowl XVIII in Indianapolis. NFL players participating will do battle in Madden in teams of three, and the current lineup is set to include guys like New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, and the dude most likely to complete a Hail Mary that night, Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow. There will also be former NFL stars like Deion Sanders and Barry Sanders competing as well, and you can see the full team rosters here.
Also, following the tournament, rapper Nas and The Roots will perform. (Wait, I'm double-checking that, yep, no, this isn't 1996.)
We’d be remiss if in all this Madden Superbowl writing action we didn’t mention how EA Sports’ official simulation of this year’s big game had the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots, 27-24. EA boasts six out of the last eight Super Bowl champions have been predicted through their simulations.
One of those Super Bowls that wasn’t predicted correctly? 2008's Super Bowl XLII, in which the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14. Prior to that game, Madden’s simulation had the Patriots topping the Giants 38-20. We'll see if EA's super computers can split the difference in the rematch this weekend.