For Watson, who has been working at EA since 2005, Griffin’s arm would turn into the most unique asset he’s made. Griffin’s appearance presented a new kind of challenge for the team. You know how in ‘Edit player’ you can switch gloves seamlessly? That’s because the gloves are a separate asset from the rest of the arm. “I actually started as an artist looking at reference material and thinking about ways before I was even asked about the implementation of the asset,” Watson said. When senior modeler Greg Watson got word of Griffin’s combine performance, he knew it was time to start the artistic process. The combine signaled to the Madden team that it was time to work on Griffin’s asset. “It went from the potential of him getting drafted and getting a shot to ‘he’s going to get a shot,’” said Haumiller. When they saw Griffin’s combine performance, it all but confirmed that this was something they would need to prepare for. Griffin was later drafted in the fifth round by the Seattle Seahawks, where he would join his twin brother, Shaquill.Įvery year, Madden sends a few people to the combine to face scan the rookies for its game because they’re all in one place at the same time. Griffin ran a blazing 4.38 40-yard-dash, pushed 20 reps on the 225-pound bench press and impressed the NFL world.
That all changed when he received a late invite to the NFL Combine - and put on a damn show. Yes, Griffin was a boss at UCF, but his draft status was unclear. “We were following along just as fans and we have a bunch of people on the team who went to UCF.”Īt first Griffin was someone the Madden crew had on their radar, but they didn’t know what Griffin’s chances were for making an NFL team. “The story of Shaquem Griffin didn’t come as a surprise to us since we’re right here,” Haumiller told SB Nation. Griffin’s stardom stood out among producer Ben Haumiller and the rest of the office. While Griffin was making a name of himself at UCF, he was catching the attention of an Electronic Arts Orlando office less than 20 miles away. Behind the senior leadership of Griffin, the Knights went undefeated in 2017 and earned the right to spark a national championship debate with Alabama (they did win the SB Nation mascot championship for what it’s worth). He overcame losing his left hand at 4 years old to a prenatal condition and turned that into balling out at UCF. Shaquem Griffin was always on EA’s radar. While his modest 72 overall might not jump out at you, his origin story and appearance make him the most unique player in the history of the Madden series. However, if you look a little deeper throughout the rosters you may stumble on Seahawks rookie Shaquem Griffin.
In Madden 19 you can destroy secondaries with Antonio Brown, terrorize offenses with Luke Kuechly, and dominate with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on the same team.
#MADDEN 19 PC ROSTER SERIES#
The series is celebrating its 30th anniversary, made a return to PC gaming, and introduced the real player motion system. This is a historic year for the Madden franchise.