NFL
Meet the Madden NFL 22 99 Club
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished31 Jul 2021
One of the biggest days of the calendar year for gamers, football fans, and NFL players alike is Madden NFL 22 release day. This year, Madden 22’s release date is Friday, August 20, 2021, but as of Friday, July 30, we know the player ratings heading into the year. This includes the newly minted members of the Madden 99 Club.
What is the Madden 99 Club?
EA Sport’s Madden NFL is one of the most popular and best-selling sports video game franchises in the world. Each year, the developers painstakingly rate every NFL player on a variety of physical and mental skills, from speed and strength to awareness and toughness. The game makers then combine and calculate these numbers are to come up with a player’s overall rating on a scale of 1-99.
A Madden rating is something many players take very seriously. Players with high ratings get bragging right. Lower-rated players will go so far as to lobby EA Sports for better numbers. It is as big a status symbol within the NFL as a contract or endorsement deal is.
Only the absolute best players in the league make The Madden 99 club each season. As EA Sports explains it:
The 99 Club is a time-honored tradition in the history of Madden Ratings. A 99 Overall (OVR) rating is not only the sign of an amazing player in the game, but the elite members of this title are among the best players in the NFL. So whether it’s on the NFL field or a head-to-head match in Madden NFL 22, the 99 Club players can take over a game at any moment.
EA Sports website on the Madden NFL 22 99 Club
It is a legitimately big deal for the players and their fans when a player makes the 99 Club. This year’s club is again an exclusive bunch with just four NFL’ers who the Madden NFL 22 crew deems worthy of this honor.
Who is in the Madden NFL 22 99 Club?
Just five players joined the Madden 99 Club in 2022. There are two defensive players and three offensive players. There are two sets of teammates on this list and, for four of the five players, this is at least their second year in the Madden 99 Club.
The lone new entrant into the 99 Club is LA Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey. The best cover-man in the NFL, Ramsey played three-plus seasons in Jacksonville before a trade sent him to LA. Now, he joins his teammate and five-time 99 Club member Aaron Donald on this exclusive list. Donald is coming off the 2020 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The other set of teammates on this list are on the other side of the ball and come from Kansas City. The Super Bowl champs’ tight end, Travis Kelce, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes are both multi-time Madden 99 Club recipients. It’s no wonder the team’s been in the last two Super Bowls with to 99’ers.
Lastly, Green Bay Packer wide receiver Davante Adams also made another 99 Club appearance in Madden NFL 22. The talented wideout led the league in yards per game and touchdowns last season.
The Madden 99 Club swag box is impressive
In addition to bragging rights, the Madden NFL 22 99 Club members also get a pretty sweet swag box to commemorate the achievement.
The box, which is impressive in its own right, includes a marble end zone pylon trophy with the Madden NFL 22 logo their name and 99 in gold. The players also get a gold-and-diamond-encrusted “99” pendant made by Jason of Beverly Hills, a custom jeweler to the stars.
The most meaningful piece in the box, though, is a handwritten note from the man himself, John Madden. The legendary coach and announcer lent his name to a new video game three decades ago. As part of the deal, he insisted it be 11-on-11, “real football.” Now, Madden 22 is about to launch once again as one of the most important and influential video games of all time.
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