Last week, Oakland Raiders tight end Pharaoh Brown and guard Jordan Simmons traveled to Orlando, Fla., to visit EA Sports headquarters, and meet with some of the developers of EA's Madden video game, as part of the NFL's Offseason Internship program. The creators of the game are always aspiring to make the game as realistic as possible, and that's made possible by meeting with NFL coaches and players from around the league. Brown and Simmons were able to assist by contributing some of their ideas to help enhance the overall experience.
"I really enjoyed seeing the creative process in a lot of the things they go through that translates from the things we do as a [football] team, to how they incorporate it as a [creative] team," Brown said following his visit.
The NFL's offseason internship program was created to give players around the league an opportunity to try new things, and prepare them for when they eventually decide their time on the field has come to a close. For young guys like Brown, he's taking full advantage of his opportunity to learn new skills.
"I think it's better for me down the line to use my time wisely and figure out what I want to do," he said. "A lot of us play football, and we don't get time to do cool things like this, so any opportunity that I get presented to go out and get real-world experience in the corporate world, which is something I want to do after football, I think that's imperative for me to take advantage of."
Simmons shared that the three days spent in Orlando were fascinating, regarding watching the game's creative team go to work. He was also able to provide the creative team with his idea – which he wanted to keep top secret – and hopes it'll appear in Madden 20.
