What if real life mirrored the Madden NFL game? What if legends played in the game that pro football enjoys today? We could buy those cards that would allow us to place legends like Ray Lewis on the 2025 Baltimore Ravens roster. Maybe, if Gale Sayers played in today's game with today's technology, those knee injuries would have knocked him out of a few games instead of leading to the premature end of his great career.
Don't shed any tears for the great Gale Sayers, though. He lives among the football immortals. Sure, it would have been nice to have more clips to watch, but he turned out to have a Pro Football Hall of Fame career anyway.
As the regular season nears, history continues to be written for a future Hall of Famer who will one day join Sayers in Canton, Ohio. Derrick Henry hopes for his encore to what turned out to be a phenomenal first season in Baltimore.
Meanwhile, in the City of Brotherly Love, questions have been asked about what Saquon Barkley might do in his second act with the Philadelphia Eagles. Two of the game's best look to put up Madden-type video game numbers in 2025. Recently, NFL Network's highly popular Good Morning Football spent some time at the breakfast table debating the likelihood of them repeating their superhuman efforts.
Had it not been for that guy in Philadelphia, Derrick Henry would have led the NFL in rushing. Henry finished last season 79 yards short of being the first member of the 2,000-yard club to accomplish the feat twice. He did, however, lead all rushers with 16 TDs on the ground.
Barkley led the league in rushing (2,005 yards). Some have asked if he can do it again. History has taught us that it is improbable that it will happen. Manti Te'o disagrees.
When asked who is more likely to repeat the success of this past season, Te'o stated he feels it's more likely that Barkley reaches the 2,000-yard plateau again than it is for Henry to lead the NFL in rushing TDs. Take a look.
Interestingly enough, former Eagles quarterback Rodney Peete was a guest on this same show, and he was asked the same question. He believes in Derrick Henry, as most would.
No NFL back has rushed for 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons. No NFL back has led the league in rushing yards since Henry did so in 2019 and 2020. As part of this potent Ravens offense with the team he has around him, most would concur. Believing he will lead the NFL in rushing TDs again is a safe bet.
So again, if the current NFL were just like EA's Madden game, we could be more certain of any outcome. We could plug in digital versions of Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry and be sure they'd run for 2,000 yards and 16 TDs or more every season.
Unfortunately, real people don't come with Madden ratings. They aren't immune to aging or injury. Still, regardless of how things play out with Barkley or Henry this season, we are all the winners in this. We need only sit back, kick our feet up, and expect some good football. None of us can guarantee the results, but we know both players will be phenomenal.