Pity the poor long snapper - the special-teams player who, unlike the kicker, both gets dirty and speaks English. Also, unlike the kicker, he rarely shows up in Madden NFL. Cullen Loeffler hasn't made the game in seven years.
Game Informer has filed easily the most entertaining training camp report of the 2010 NFL preseason, reporting on Loeffler's absence from the video game and teammates' indignation over it. Or lack thereof. "I think it probably makes the game better," said none other than Brett Favre, who starred on Madden NFL 09's cover. "Who the fuck is Cullen Loeffler?"
GI didn't attribute it this way, but the NFL's all-time leader in interceptions and interceptions thrown to end a career probably was joking. Or he truly doesn't give a shit what his team thinks about him showing up late again.
Only one long snapper is on the game's release code - that being the Giants' Zak DeOssie, who is given a 0 overall rating at that position.
This kind of slight is largely a problem in the pre-season, when NFL rosters stand at 80 players, while Madden's only supports 53, the roster maximum for the regular season. EA Sports Tiburon is in a position of locking in a team's reliable starters and backups and then guessing which rookies, undrafted free agents and camp invites might make the team. Where they have a choice between including skill position player who can be controlled by a user, or a specialist who's exclusively controlled by the AI, they typically choose the former.
Still, Loeffler's absence has persisted through the game's regular roster updates, peeving him enough that "I don't even play it, mainly for the reason I'm not in it," he told Game Informer.
Image of Brad Childress used because, duh, there is no screengrab of Cullen Loeffler.
Vikings Outraged (Kind Of) Over Exclusion Of Long Snapper In Madden [Game Informer]