Stop what you’re doing. Reach up. Feel the air. Do you feel that? That, my friends, is the hype. The hype is real. Nearly sixteen months after the Eagles won Super Bowl LII, EA Sports has finally decided to make the greatest play in Super Bowl history available in their Madden franchise. That’s right, the Philly Special is going to be a potential play-call in Madden 20.

Anthony White, a game developer for EA Sports, joined the Eagle Eye in the Sky podcast to talk about how all 32 NFL teams’ playbooks are designed, as well as how the company is working to incorporate RPOs into the gameplay.

Per White you can find the play:

…under the pistol formation, but the set is called “Philly” and when you look at the play it says, “Philly Special” and then “Fake Philly Special”. A couple of copycats popped up in the league last year, I know Week 17 the Dolphins ran it, I think the Falcons ran it. So I was like, “Hey, well, what do we call it? Do we call it Miami special? I know the Browns ran it, do we call it the Cleveland special in their playbook?” So we’re actually just going to leave it “Philly”, even if we put it in another team’s playbook.

The fact that it took a few copycat efforts to mainstream the play is a bit disappointing, but that’s what happens when you face no competition thanks to an exclusivity deal struck between EA Sports and the NFL way back in 2005.

More after the jump:


That deal has since been extended, and there appears to be no end in sight. There were recent rumors that the XFL might pursue a video game deal with 2K Sports, which once went toe-to-toe with EA Sports up until the 2004 season before the exclusivity deal was signed. For those who forget, 2K Sports went into that final year with an incredibly strong effort in ESPN NFL 2K5 featuring then-Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens. That game’s $19.99 price tag undercut the market and forced EA Sports to drop their Madden price from $49.95 to $29.95. I’ll go to war with anyone who thought the Madden 2005 game featuring Ray Lewis on the cover was the superior game. 2K5 was far ahead of its time and laid the groundwork for gameplay innovations that Madden later boasted as if EA Sports had created them first.

Remember this?

https://youtu.be/U7lzroq9qoc