OH SNAP! It’s not over until it red-rings!

We’re no stranger to athletes needing cause for attention and thus making insanely large jackasses of themselves regularly in the public spotlight. So, of course, when recently signed Seattle Seahawk, T.J. Houshmandzadeh found out his rating on Madden NFL 10 was only a 91, he became upset. And decided to let the world know that he was upset. Because you’re apparently allowed to do that when you make more than a million dollars a year, even in this economy.

EA Tiburon wasn’t having any of that. Nuh-uh.

Just last week, two developers for the game, Ian Cummings and Donny Moore went on to ESPN First Take to set the record straight. Houshmandzadeh (thank you copy and paste combinations) also appeared on the show.

It was predictably anti-climactic. No names were dropped, no fists were thrown (a little hard with Houshmandzadeh appearing via telephone, mind you), no challenges were uttered, but a resolution was sorted of sorts. Houshmandzadeh (once again, thank you Command + V) wishes very much for a mid-season update. Let’s just hope he’s earning his money by Week 9.

NFL player not content with $2 million a year, boycotts Madden

The annual Madden ratings are a big deal to football players-and for the particularly egotistical ones, it’s natural to feel that the game doesn’t properly assess their talents. For the rest of us, it tends to fall under the criteria of Internet ridiculousness.

This one easily crosses a bit too far into absurdity.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh feels that Madden NFL 10 has underrated him at a 91. So, in a show of protest, he declared on Colin Cowherd’s ESPN Radio show recently that he won’t be playing the game.

Houshmandzadeh had played his entire career for the Cincinnati Booooo-ngals Bengals until he signed with the Seahawks during the recent off-season, and what’s the first thing he did, before even playing a preseason game in a Seahawks uniform? Why, blame his former team for his shortcomings, of course:

“Man, they don’t get my rating right … I just looked at the game and they have this wrong and that wrong. And I understand I averaged 10 yards a catch [in 2008], but it’s the offense, man, not me.”

In case you were wondering, this year’s edition of Madden lists Houshmandzadeh as the sixth-best receiver in the NFC; the five players ranked above him (co-cover athlete Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin, Roddy White, and Calvin Johnson) each had at least two more touchdowns than he did in 2008, and he’s the only one of the six who didn’t have at least 1,000 yards receiving. If this were a LOLCAT, it would be picture saying “FAIR RATING IS FAIR.”

Of course, he claims he’s better than the numbers say he is, even though sports video game ratings are generally based on the prior year’s statistical performance, and he’s adamant that EA Tiburon has wronged him.

“I’m not playing Madden no more, until they get my rating right,”

he whines. Awwww, pobrecito.