EA Sports’ NCAA ’14 will be released to the masses tomorrow, likely to the chagrin of Ed O’Bannon as he frowns upon the image of QB #2 for Texas A&M on his TV screen.
That’s another problem for another day. Right now, EA Sports has been dealing with a more immediate issue. The game has been released on a limited basis, so just long enough for someone to notice former Florida tight end Aaron Hernandez as an unlockable player in the game.
(Image courtesy of the one and only @TeamSpeedKills)That’s unfortunate RT @Adam__OS: WELP RT @LiterallyLowe: Oh. Oh dear #NCAAFootball. http://t.co/qVibGlPBnp
— Brandon (@TeamSpeedKills) July 8, 2013
Whoops.
Hernandez, who has been released from the New England Patriots in the wake of his arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd, is apparently an unlockable player in the game’s Ultimate Team mode. Not long after the image made its way through the social media web, EA Sports released the following statement:
“We made a decision to remove Aaron Hernandez from Madden NFL 25 and NCAA Football 14. Because NCAA Football 14 was finalized prior to our decision, Hernandez’ image still appears in the Nike Skills Trainer. However, he is not in the game, and anyone who unlocks that particular Nike Skills Trainer reward will receive an Alex Smith Ultimate Team player item instead. The image of Hernandez will be removed via a Title Update in the near future.”
Thanks to how quickly video games can be updated, the problem’s been resolved before it turned into much problem at all.