‘Madden NFL 23’ CPR touchdown celebration to be axed following Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest

A CPR touchdown celebration featured in Madden NFL 23 is to be removed following American football star Damar Hamlin suffering cardiac arrest mid-game.

The Buffalo Bills player collapsed on the field on January 2 after performing a tackle while competing against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Medical personnel performed CPR and applied an automated defibrillator and other forms of aid before Hamlin was taken off the field by an ambulance. He required a breathing tube and his condition was critical for several days, and while he has since improved he remains hospitalised.

Electronic Arts (EA) has now said that it will remove the CPR touchdown celebration from Madden NFL 23 in a future update. The move in question shows one member of the scoring team laying on the grass while a second player administers pretend CPR, and a third jolts him with a pretend defibrillator.

“EA Sports is taking steps to remove the celebration from Madden NFL 23 via an update in the coming days,” a representative said in a statement to PC Gamer. EA did not specify the reason, however, it’s assumed that it’s in relation to Hamlin.

A date for the update hasn’t been announced.

It isn’t the first time that EA has removed controversial content from Madden NFL games.

In 2020, it pulled Washington’s racist team name from Madden 21 and in 2021 it removed former NFL coach Jon Gruden from Madden 22 after it was found that Gruden had used racist and homophobic slurs in emails sent between 2011 and 2018.

Meanwhile, in other EA and sports video game news, Cristiano Ronaldo has had his stats downgraded in FIFA 23 following a disastrous few months on the pitch.