How has Madden contributed to your overall understanding of Football ?

[maddenps2]

When i was younger it helped me understand the basics of football. Recently it has taught me how the lack of simulated physics keeps madden from simulating real life football.

[Broncos86]

"John Madden Football" taught me that players catch the football by allowing the football to slam into their body, sometimes through their back (they can improve their chances if they raise their hands as if signaling a FG is good). I also learned that to tackle someone, you must hold your hands to chest and dive at them with your head (but only if diving at them perpendicular to the field). This was a tough adjustment from what Tecmo Bowl taught (that to tackle someone, you must slide on the ground).

Lastly, Madden taught me that medical personnel do not care about players, and will go to great lengths to get to their destination, even if it means taking out other players.

[RyanMoody21]

Madden is a game about pro athletes. Anybody who thinks because they played sports they can relate to a pro athlete is crazy.

"You know, I can really relate to Ray Lewis, I played MLB in Pop Warner."

I understand that's not what the OP was going for, Im just making a general statement.

From a HB perspective, I don't see what Madden should be able to teach (other than vision and patience) you as a player. Your coaches should have been teaching you, not Madden. Chances are very slim that at a high school level you have any of the real life skill sets of a NFL player, or at the very least they aren't as fine tuned. Essentially you shouldn't be able to emulate all the moves you see in Madden. That said, your also going up against often confused defense.

I played in the secondary my entire high school career, I played CB, Safety and even some WR. In a pinch I returned punts. Its hard to get any recognition from county or state when you aren't playing one position constantly. I went onto play semi pro, but much like many other people I meant along the way, without proper conditioning (IE having a day job leads to an in proper diet and lack of time for workouts), your body really cant stand up to even a watered down semi pro league for long.

All that said, as a secondary player I get sick watching or playing Madden. The rapid starting and stopping and bad coverage angles. Playing the ball (not your position on the field) above all else and extremely bad decision making in coverage (regardless of how good or bad the attribute are). If I played in the secondary at any level like they do in Madden, I would have had a whole lot more time to play Madden on my hands.

[Cubone_Jones]

Quote: Originally Posted by Broncos86

"John Madden Football" taught me that players catch the football by allowing the football to slam into their body, sometimes through their back (they can improve their chances if they raise their hands as if signaling a FG is good). I also learned that to tackle someone, you must hold your hands to chest and dive at them with your head (but only if diving at them perpendicular to the field). This was a tough adjustment from what Tecmo Bowl taught (that to tackle someone, you must slide on the ground). Lastly, Madden taught me that medical personnel do not care about players, and will go to great lengths to get to their destination, even if it means taking out other players.

haha oh the memories.

Personally, Madden has just been a part of football since I can remember. I remember playing Madden 92 with my cousin who was a HSer back when I was really young. I'm sure Madden helped me understand the game, and I know it helped me understand the NFL (with franchise and everything).

[JeriousNorwood]

I know people think this thread is a joke and feel they knew everything before Madden, but Madden really increased my knowledge of the pro game. If you bring up some obscure player, I could probably tell you everything about them thanks to Madden.

Before Madden, I had a very basic understanding of the game. However, Madden taught me formations and coverages as well. Now when an NFL team lines up I can rattle off what formation they are in or what type of defensive scheme they are using. So yes, the majority of my technical knowledge came from Madden, and more importantly, the desire to watch and research football came from Madden as well.

[BezO]

Aside from Jerious, those saying they learned something from Madden are not saying what they learned. I'm very curious.

[Broncos86]

Quote: Originally Posted by BezO

Aside from Jerious, those saying they learned something from Madden are not saying what they learned. I'm very curious.

That's fair. Honestly, though, what I learned came through either playing the game, or just researching.

[Crawi]

I didn't learn football from Madden, but before the internet it helped me follow the roster changes around the league closer. That may seem like a little thing, but back in the day it was pretty tough following the Panthers on the west coast. I loved the short lived Niner rivalry.