Madden NFL 22 is replacing former Raiders head coach with generic likeness

Jon Gruden is being replaced, following his resignation over uncovered emails

Electronic Arts announced it will remove the former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden from Madden NFL 22. The head coach resigned his position earlier this week after emails containing offensive remarks were reported on by several outlets.

“EA Sports is committed to taking action in maintaining a culture of inclusion and equity,” reads EA’s statement. “Due to the circumstances of Jon Gruden’s resignation, we are taking steps to remove him from Madden NFL 22. We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks.”

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— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) October 13, 2021

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week on an email Gruden sent in 2011 concerning the NFL lockout, making a racist remark about NFL players union head DeMaurice Smith. Shortly after the report was published, the Raiders organization announced that Gruden had resigned. More recent emails also began to surface, as reported on by the New York Times, containing homophobic remarks and vulgar language.

While Rich Bisaccia will serve as interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Electronic Arts will be replacing Gruden in Madden NFL 22 with a generic likeness instead.

This isn’t the first time EA has had to pull people from its sports games following real-life events, or even seen a game affected by real-life scandals.

Lead image via Wikimedia Commons