Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The game is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a well-known color commentator for NBC Sports and formerly a successful Super Bowl-winning coach during the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders. Due to a contractual obligation, Bill Parcells cannot appear in the Madden NFL series until his television contract with ESPN expires. Currently, the game names him "Dallas Coach." However, Parcells retired and was succeeded by Wade Phillips, who is a member of the NFL Coaches Association. Phillips will likely appear in Madden 08. Likewise, New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick is no longer in the game because he is not a member of the NFL Coaches Association, which sells the rights to have the coaches' names in the game.

There are multiple modes of game play, from a quick head-to-head game to running a team for a whole season or even multiple seasons. Online play, which was a new feature for Madden NFL 2003 (in this versions there are also mini-camp challenges) was only available for users of the PlayStation 2 console or a Microsoft Windows PC until early 2004.

Unlockables

Unlock Game Bonuses
Apparel Cards - Get a gold trophy under each mini-camp training mode.

Cheerleader Cards - Complete the Game Situation challenges in Mini-Camp mode.

Marshalls - Have a saved game file from another EA Sports football game on your memory card.

The Mummies - Have a saved game file from another EA Sports racing game on your memory card.

Unlock Players
Barry Sanders - Get a Gold rank in the RB Ground Attack drill in mini-camp mode under the All-Madden level.

Deion Sanders - Get a Gold rank in the DB Swat drill under the all-Madden level.

Jan Stenerud - Get a gold rank in the K-Clutch Kicking Drill in mini-camp mode on the All-Madden level.

John Elway - Get a Gold rank in the QB Pocket Presence under the All-Madden level.

Kevin Butler - Get a gold rank in the Coffin Corner Punt drill on the All-Madden level.

Mike Ditka - Have a saved game file from another EA Sports football game on your memory card.

Mike Singletary - Get a gold rank in the LB Chase and Tackle drill in mini-camp mode on the All-Madden level.

Reggie White - Get a gold rank in All-Madden DL-Trench Fight on the All-Madden level.

Steve Young - Get a Gold rank in the QB Precision Passing (St. Louis Rams) under the All-Madden level.

Unlockable Stadiums

Dodge City Stadium - Have a saved file from another EA Sports football game on your memory card.

Secrets

Christmas commentary
Change the system date to December 25th to hear Christmas commentary.

New Year's commentary
Change the system date to January 1st to hear the New Year's commentary.

Thanksgiving commentary
Change the system date to the 3rd Thursday in November for Thanksgiving commentary.


When you score a 113 yards field goal in a Madden NFL game it's either a glitch or you're the luckiest player ever. Here's a video showing such an achievement: