Kaepernick’s name removed from song lyric on Madden 19 video game soundtrack
>> LOS ANGELES: Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback seemingly shunned by the NFL over his anthem protests, has now had his name censored from the soundtrack of the league’s official video game.
The omission was discovered by a Twitter user on Thursday, prompting an apology from game developer Electronic Arts, which said the decision to blank out the reference to the player on “Madden NFL 19” was an “unfortunate mistake.”
The newest edition of the popular game franchise alters a lyric from a song used on the soundtrack — rapper Big Sean’s verse on YG’s Big Bank.
The revelation — confirmed by Pro Football Talk, which received an advance copy of the game — prompted howls of derision on social media.
“It’s disappointing and appalling @NFL & @EA took @Kaepernick7’s name out of my verse on Big Bank for Madden 19, like it was a curse word,” tweeted rapper Big Sean.
“When he’s not a curse, he’s a gift! Nobody from my team approved any of this.”
Kaepernick responded saying: “Much love brother! Thank you for having my back!”
EA later issued a statement apologising for what it called an error.
“We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack,” the company said.
“Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks. We messed up, and the edit should never have happened. We will make it right, with an update to Madden NFL 19 on August 6 that will include the reference again.
“We meant no disrespect, and we apologise to Colin, to YG and Big Sean, to the NFL, to all of their fans and our players for this mistake.”
Kaepernick became a lightning rod for controversy when, as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, he began kneeling during the US national anthem before NFL games to draw attention to racial inequality and police brutality.
In 2017 he was unable to get an NFL job and has sued the NFL saying league owners colluded to keep him unsigned as retaliation for the protests.
With public opinion divided on the anthem protests — and US President Donald Trump calling players who decline to stand for the anthem unpatriotic — the NFL has struggled to formulate a policy on the issue.