Madden 12 Will Emphasize Concussion Safety

The next installment in the Madden football video games series will be even safer with an emphasis on concussion safety.  So, when you are playing the game, no more putting a player in that has cob webs in his head. 

The NFL has always wanted to improve the safety of the players.  So it's no stretch to see them emphasizing the importance of concussion safety.  However, seeing that concussion safety implemented in a video game is something you don't see often.

Enter Madden 12.

Madden 12 comes out in August of this year, and it will emphasize concussion safety.  What does this mean?  Well, if your player gets jacked up and gets a concussion, you won't be able to play that player for the rest of the game.

"Concussions are such a big thing, it has to be a big thing in the video game," Madden told The New York Times. "It starts with young kids -- they start in video games. I think the osmosis is if you get a concussion, that's a serious thing and you shouldn't play. Or leading with the head that you want to eliminate. We want that message to be strong."

The game's executive producer, Phil Frazier, told The Times that "Madden NFL 12", with its new concussion rules and the exclusion of helmet-to-helmet hits and headfirst tackling can be a "teaching tool" to players of the game, particularly kids.

Gus Johnson and Cris Collinsworth, the announcers featured in the game, also will explain the dangerous nature of concussions when they announce that a player can't return to the game.

With so many kids playing and a lot of those kids aspiring  to be football players, this could be a win win situation.  Those kids (and some adults) not only get to play a cool football game, but they get some instruction and information of the seriousness of the sport itself when it comes to injury.

On the other hand, it's a video game and if people can't decipher between reality and video game, they have bigger problems. I mean, take Grand Theft Auto for instance.  It's a game where you can carjack, kill or beat up other people.  So, maybe GTA should make sure to tell the folks that stealing a car is wrong and that there are consequences?

What do you think? Should Madden 12, or any other video game for that matter, use their format to educate people on safety while playing a game that obviously is not real?

By the way, you can vote for who you would like to see on the cover of Madden 12 at espn.com.

(via espn.com)