It’s been a crazy week for Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered a life-threatening injury during a game last Monday. The injury sent shockwaves across social media as Hamlin received CPR on the field and had to be taken away by an ambulance. This has put the sport in a different light in the last week, with even EA’s Madden series feeling the effects.
According to TMZ, an EA Sports representative confirmed that the CPR touchdown celebration is in the process of being removed from Madden NFL 23 sometime in the next week. This comes after fans on social media raised concerns about how the celebration comes off given what’s recently happened on the field.
This is sure to cause backlash amongst some of the Madden fanbase, but it seems that EA is hoping to cover its bases. The truth is that as long as American football is played the way it is, players across this country will continue to need CPR and other life-saving measures like this. There’s some merit to the idea that turning it into a celebration downplays the importance and necessity of the practice.
From a practical standpoint, this is likely more about EA trying to get ahead of any worse injuries that could happen on the field. Thanks to the quick actions of the Bills’ medical staff, Hamlin’s life was saved and he’s now able to recover at home. EA has to consider what happens the next time there’s a major injury, however, which would only cause the backlash to grow.
In the same article, TMZ mentions a real-life version of the celebration from the Steelers two days ago. One player pumps on another’s chest before pulling him up off the ground. Some of the replies in the thread range from calling people “sensitive” to acknowledging that it’s always been a celebration, but maybe it’s time to let it go for more than a week.
This will likely be forgotten about in time, as Damar Hamlin is now back at home and recovering in his own time. As time goes on, we’re likely to learn more about how we can prevent this from happening to more players in the future.
In the meantime, learning how to perform CPR, and not just the celebration, can be the difference between life and death.
