Maybe he means that before, default All-Madden would be like playing on a harder version of his black set where CPU isn't unfair per se (technical semantics aside from a programming standpoint), but the CPU players are more likely to pull off super-human, WTF-no-way-that-could-happen kind of thing, and you have to play perfect - and even then it might not be enough, leading to the "determined I would lose" mindset.
Now, it might be more like his Red set - a little more laid back, but if you get sloppy, make bad decisions, or just have a bad team, you can still get it handed to you on a silver platter with a "thank you, come again" card on top.
I don't know what All-Madden was like in M10 and didn't get M11, but it's not TOO bad in M12, if you get sliders that level things off some so you get a challenge without getting killed. In fact, now, you can almost "recreate" All-Pro, but use the All-Madden level CPU, which makes the game play better overall since All-Pro CPU is annoying with some of the silly decisions it makes.