Madden 23 removing CPR celebration after Damar Hamlin accident

EA Sports plans to remove the CPR touchdown celebration in Madden 23, following Damar Hamlin’s recent on-field medical emergency.

During a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field injury that required medical staff to step in and deliver CPR.

Hamlin is fortunately on the road to recovery, with recent reports stating he’s been able to walk and verbally communicate with family and friends.

But the shocking incident still weighs heavily on the NFL, with questions about the safety of the high-impact sport once more on the rise.

And it looks as though EA Sports is reexamining a few things with respect to its ever-popular Madden franchise, too.

EA to remove CPR celebration animation in Madden 23

Madden 23 boasts several showboat and dance moves for players to perform under certain circumstances. Given Damar Hamlin’s recent injury, however, developers intend to get rid of the CPR-style showboating move.

An EA Sports representative confirmed as much in a statement to CBS Sports, telling the publication, “EA Sports is taking steps to remove the celebration from Madden NFL 23 via an update in the coming days.”

The spokesperson stopped short of giving a specific date for the patch, but it seems the change will happen sooner rather than later.

EA Sports

The removal of the CPR animation shouldn’t be too much of a loss for Madden 23 players. After all, EA Sports added several new showboat celebrations to the series with the latest release. One such addition includes new dances like The Griddy.

In recent weeks, EA Sports has come under fire because of issues with server outages. Unfortunately for some, the server errors even resulted in save file deletions in Franchise Mode.