Fans of Madden are calling on EA Sports to remove the CPR celebration function following the Damar Hamlin incident.
The 24-year-old NFL player collapsed on the field in the middle of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Initially, it appeared the Buffalo Bills safety was involved in a routine tackle in the game, which unfolded on Monday, January 2.
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He got back on his feet and everything seemed fine, but Hamlin then collapsed once more, prompting medical services to rush to the field as the other players took a knee.
The player received CPR on the pitch as his distraught family watched on, with his relatives later saying he had to be resuscitated twice following the shocking turn of events – once on the pitch and then again in the hospital.
Thankfully, the Buffalo Bills said Hamlin has made 'remarkable improvement' in their latest update, and it looks like the player is on the mend as he recovers from the cardiac arrest.
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However, some fans of the popular NFL video game Madden believe its developer needs to make a change to a particular function as it is perceived to be disrespectful in light of the incident.
Much like other sports games, Madden allows players to showboat and celebrate their wins, including one move in which two characters pretend they're giving CPR to another member of their team.
In retrospect, some players are noticing just how dark this 'celebration' is considering the seriousness of the act it portrays.
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Streaming personality and reporter Jake Lucky shared about the backlash on Twitter today (January 6), writing: "Given the incident with Damar Hamlin, some fans of Madden are calling on EA to remove the CPR celebration immediately from their games."
Elsewhere on Twitter, one person wrote: "Hey uhhhh @EASPORTS can you take the CPR end zone celebrations out of Madden???"
Another said: "It’s totally innocent and players may not even know.. but it's probably time to put a moratorium on players pretend performing CPR on a teammate as a celebration."
Lucky went on to ask his followers their thoughts on the situation, and it looks like people are divided.
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While some people believe there's nothing wrong with the move, others think EA should put a stop to it – and some have even criticised the players who invented the celebration in real life.
"That’s an odd celebration in the first place," said one.
"It’s a real celebration that NFL players have done," wrote another, to which a third responded, "Who thought this was a good celebration in the first place????"
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A fourth chimed in: "The Titans should also be penalized for the choking celebration they have done for the last half of the season... very distasteful."
UNILAD has contacted EA Sports for comment.
Daisy Phillipson