EA Sports is reportedly set to remove a feature from the company’s popular “Madden NFL 23” video game after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a game last week.
TMZ Sports learned that the company is pulling the “CPR touchdown celebration” from the video game franchise.
A spokesperson from the company said that the end zone celebration will be taken out of the game through a software update that will likely happen this week.
The report said that some users now find the virtual celebration to be “insensitive and crass.”
Hamlin collapsed with about six minutes left in the first quarter of last week’s Monday Night Football game against Cincinnati after he tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins following a 13-yard catch. After the tackle, Hamlin stood up, took a step backward, and fell to the ground.
Hamlin received CPR on the field and once at the hospital, where he stayed in critical condition for several days.
Hamlin was released from the hospital on Monday so he could fly back to Buffalo where he is now receiving medical care.
“Headed home to Buffalo today with a lot of love on my heart,” Hamlin tweeted. “Watching the world come together around me on Sunday was truly an amazing feeling. The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world n more. Bigger than football!”
Dr. Timothy A. Pritts and Dr. William Knight at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center provided an update on Hamlin’s condition Monday afternoon.
“We shared last time that we were with you that our ultimate goal was to get Damar back home to his amazing family and the broader Buffalo family,” Knight said. “Well, Dr. Pritts and I are thrilled and proud on behalf of UC to report to you that Damar Hamlin has been released and returned to Buffalo.”
“I traveled with him to the airport this morning with our UC Health, air care and mobile care crew, including teammates who are with us on the field when Damar Hamlin collapsed,” he continued. “He landed safely and as standard as anybody who has gone through what he’s gone through this past week, and certainly after flying on a plane, he is going to be observed and monitored to ensure that there’s no impact from the flight on his condition or on his lungs. Dr. Pritts and I have spoken extensively with his care team in Buffalo, and I can confirm that he is doing well. And this is the beginning of the next stage of his recovery.”