Doctor Who Blasted Madden Video Game for Building a ‘Digital Plantation’ Used to Play Madden
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A doctor eulogized the death of John Madden by blasting the famous football video game series that bears the NFL icon’s name for building a “digital plantation.”
Madden, a larger-than-life beloved personality in the NFL, died Tuesday night at the age of 85. Dr. Andrew McGregor, a history professor at Dallas College attempted to counterbalance the thousands of tributes to Madden by claiming the video game brand “further glamorized violence and dehumanized Black athletes” by helping “to establish plantation cosplay that has grown worse in the era of fantasy football.”
Some on social media are putting the Twitter thread in contention with the worst tweets of all time, but at least McGregor didn’t make the absurd allegation without being well-versed in the game.
That’s right, McGregor previously admitted to playing Madden, like most football fans have at some point in their lives.
“The fake kneel down is the exact kind of play I would have used against my brother in Madden. It would have perfectly complemented my fake punt offense,” McGregor tweeted in 2017, four years before the doctor attempted to connect Madden and his video game to a racist legacy.
I have lots of opinions on John Madden. The creation of the Madden video game was not a great development for the U.S. It further glamorized violence and dehumanized Black athletes, helping to establish plantation cosplay that has grown worse in the era of fantasy football.
— Dr. Andrew McGregor (@admcgregor85) December 29, 2021
Sure, there is a lot of significance to his life and his impact. But it’s pretty clear most of his accomplishments were not beneficial or healthy for athletes, particular non-white athletes. John Madden made a life in football, one of the most violent and exploitative sports.
— Dr. Andrew McGregor (@admcgregor85) December 29, 2021
When your entire life is based on expanding and profiting off of one the of most violent and exploitative games, veneration is not exactly something that you deserve.
— Dr. Andrew McGregor (@admcgregor85) December 29, 2021
McGregor has not addressed if he still plays Madden or if he gave up what he now believes is a habit dangerous to society.
The NFL, certainly has its faults and vulnerabilities, but most of social media was perplexed by the comparison of football and its most popular video game to a slavery plantation. As of Wednesday afternoon, McGregor’s Tuesday night thread has over 13,000 quote tweets and just 475 likes, depicting how many people were furious with his opinion of Madden.
NFL fans were similarly baffled when Colin Kaepernick recently compared the NFL Draft process to a slave auction. A first-year rookie has a minimum salary of $425,000 per year, while star quarterbacks can earn more than $40 million annually. Neither figure is emblematic of slavery.
