Steelers' Pressley Harvin III Traumatized And Text Creators Of Madden Over Horrifying Avatar

Pittsburgh Steelers fans are not the only gamers who are looking at players from their beloved team on the Madden NFL 24 video game. The ratings and avatars are announced each year a few months ahead of the release of the actual game. Since its inception, the game has developed a huge following. Every year when released, there is a lot of talk and debate about the player ratings and fans rejoice or complain over how their favorite gridiron heroes fared. One fan, who is also an NFL player, is not too happy about how Madden presented him in ‘24.

The first Madden video game was actually called "John Madden Football" and was released in 1988 for the Apple II computer. It later was reconfigured to be MS-DOS friendly and then ultimately was released on the 1990 Sega Genesis video game system as the NFL Madden series. It was almost an immediate hit with gamers and attracted NFL fans who might not have gamed previously.  

Since its initial release, it has been a serious cash cow for EA Sports. Its sales average about $600 million a year and EA has earned over $4 billion from sales of the game. In 2023, Madden sales were $50,000 in just the first month. It topped the best sellers list 23 times in a row in 2023. 

While the game has a lot of fans, it also has plenty of detractors. Every year, fans report glitches in the game that take away from the overall experience. But the biggest complaint is generally the unrealistic player ratings and Steelers fans feel their players are among the most disrespected. 

Those who really care about these ratings are kept waiting around for the developer to release them each year. Then they come out and it is more often a source of frustration rather than a show of respect. The 2024 ratings contained several glaring insults. TJ Watt was rated 94 (out of 100) which is well behind Myles Garrett and Nick Bosa at 98. Cameron Heyward ended up the fifth-highest player at his position and Minkah Fitzpatrick was rated 93 which placed him several points behind Derwin James. 

It wasn't just the defense they snubbed their noses at. Kenny Pickett, who was a 68 as a rookie, is only a 73 in 2024. That puts him behind Bryce Young who has never even taken a snap in the NFL. On top of that, there wasn't even a Steelers receiver even close to the top 30 in the NFL, a major slap in the face to Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. 

However, some players were worried about something other than their rating. Steelers punter Pressley Harvin III was rated a 72 on Madden 24 with a power archetype. Apparently, he wasn't as angry about the rating as he was about his appearance.

Steelers’ Pressley Harvin III Said Madden 24 Did Him Dirty

Recently, Harvin appeared on his teammate Heyward's podcast, Not Just Football With Cam Heyward, along with the other team specialists including kicker, Chris Boswell and long-snapper, Christian Kuntz. While on the show, the guys got a kick out of teasing Harvin for his physical appearance on the game. 

In the game, they made Harvin look much thicker and heavier than he is in real life. This is saying something since Harvin is not a small guy. He is actually a big guy for a punter at 6'0" and about 255 pounds. His size got him a lot of attention during his rookie year in 2021 with folks remarking on his "thicc thighs." 

Harvin has taken that size (he's currently the biggest punter in the NFL) and used it to his advantage. It gives him a powerful booming kick. He also took some criticism for his size especially because his kicks are not always consistent. When Heyward brought up the Madden avatar, Harvin jokes "that Pressley's no longer here" as a nod to his journey to be healthier. 

The guys asked him if he has considered suing Madden over the horrifying avatar. He said that he has a funny story about how he responded when he found out early in 2022. He got the number for a person at Madden and hit them up to express his displeasure.  

"I wound up seeing it early last year, I saw it floating around Twitter and reached out to the guy that does all of the performance stuff and all of that for ratings. I literally texted him, 'Hey man this is Pressley Harvin here I just want to say that I couldn't tell if that was me or (Kevin) Dotson in that picture.’ I mean it was bad. He was like, 'Hey man I don't have no problem trying to fix it.'"

Kevin Dotson is the Steelers former offensive guard who is 6'4" and 322 pounds of solid power. The physical appearance presented certainly looks more like a lineman than a punter. Harvin joked that his legs, with those well-known powerful thighs look right, but the backside view is terrible. He laughed and says that even worse than the back view, is the view from the side. 

What do you think about the way they portrayed Harvin in Madden? Do you play Madden? Do you think their ratings and portrayals are accurate and fair? How much do you care about the low ratings that Steelers players always seem to be given? Click to comment below! 

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