Colin Kaepernick is back in Madden.
EA Sports has added Colin Kaepernick to the Madden NFL 21 lineup after a four-year absence from the game series — and fans can play him starting Tuesday.
Madden NFL’s official Twitter accounted announced Kaepernick’s return to the game on Tuesday, September 8. Kaepernick is available in Franchise mode, as well as Play Now, and users can sign him on to any team in the game since he is a free agent.
“Knowing that our EA SPORTS experiences are platforms for players to create, we want to make Madden NFL a place that reflects Colin’s position and talent, rates him as a starting QB, and empowers our fans to express their hopes for the future of football,” the company tweeted.
“The team at EA SPORTS, along with millions of Madden NFL fans, want to see him back in our game,” Madden NFL added.
According to TMZ, Kaepernick’s rating in the game is 81, which is higher than other players like Derek Carr or Kyler Murray and ranks him as Madden NFL 21’s top-rated free-agent quarterback. It’s the first time the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback will be featured in the game since Madden 2016.
Outside of the video game, Kaepernick has been a free agent in real life since March 2017, after he famously began protesting against racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.
Kaepernick’s addition to the game comes on the heels of criticism from fans that the franchise has dipped in quality. Since the game’s release last month, users have pointed to a host of bugs plaguing the current game and expressed disappointment with the lack of significant updates to modes like Franchise over last year’s edition.
