Patrick Willis of the 49ers defeats Chad Ochocinco in the semifinals of the 2010 Madden Bowl.
Check out our photo album from the event.
Trey Wingo from ESPN emceed the event and took notice of “virtual” Willis’ dominance on the field. BattlePros member Manny Lawson was also called out by Wingo, who at one point said, “is that Manny Lawson covering way down field (breaking up a pass), now that’s impressive.”
The night started with four quarterfinal matches. In the first, Willis dominated Jared Allen of the Vikings 35-0. Eventual champ, Maurice Jones-Drew took out fellow running back Chris Johnson of the Titans and Chad Ochocinco took down all-purpose threat Percy Harvin of the Vikings. In the oddest match of the night, Santonio Holmes of the Steelers moved on to the semifinals after defeating Miles Austin of the Cowboys in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. A power outage with an Xbox system caused the shift in competition (a camera man kicked out the cord while filming the match. No, it wasn’t me). With Austin winning at the time of the accident, a quick thinking Wingo challenged both players to decide the outcome by facing off in the popular kids’ hand game. Holmes won 2 out of 3 games and moved on to face Jones-Drew, where the Jaguar’s running back won fairly comfortably.
Willis on the otherhand was locked in a close battle with Ochocinco in the other semifinal match. Willis played as the Steelers (after playing as the Eagles in his first match) and Ochocinco donned the uniform of the hometown Dolphins. Willis jumped out to a two score lead, but had to convert a late first down to hold onto a close 3 point victory.
In the finals, Jones-Drew used a ball control offense to eat up the clock and yards. Willis couldn’t mount any serious drives and turned the ball over a couple of times. For his victory, Jones-Drew received a giant Stanely Cup-like trophy and a diamond-encrusted Xbox 360 console. The champ also received a congratulatory call from John Madden himself. Jones-Drew asked the coach/commentator if he remembered that Jones-Drew used to mow his lawn as a kid. He seemed excited that Madded did indeed remember it.
Other players in attendance included Ravens OT Michael Oher, Cowboys DE DeMarcus Ware, Jets QB Mark Sanchez, Bengals LB Keith Rivers, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley, Steelers LB James Farrior, Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez, Broncos WR Brandon Marshall, Browns WR Josh Cribbs, Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett, retired Rams RB Marshall Faulk, Jets CB Darrelle Revis, retired RB Eddie George, and 49ers TE Vernon Davis.
For your chance to play Madden or other games against pro athletes, make sure to join BattlePros. It’s free.
You can also check out a video from the event from EA Sports.
Our own BattlePros video is coming soon.
