“I Got So Angry I Had to Quit”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Admits Getting Too Worked Up Over His Madden League

BRISTOL, TN - SEPTEMBER 20: Dale Earnhardt, Jr ( 88 JR Motorsports Hellmann s Chevrolet) talks with members of his crew during practice for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Xfinity Series Food City 300 on September 20, 2024 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a fierce competitor on the race track. And this nature of his wasn’t limited to just motorsports.

One of Junior’s favorite pursuits is playing video games. And a game that had him completely hooked and addicted to the level that he risked losing friendships over it was Madden Mobile.

In the ‘Ask Jr.’ segment of the Dale Jr. Download podcast,  a fan had asked him if he had ever gotten so angry when playing a game that he broke the controller out of frustration. Dale Jr. admitted that while he did not break the controller, he had gotten angry enough that he felt like doing it.

This happened back in the day when he was still an active player of Madden Mobile. “I got so angry that I had to quit. I had to stop doing it because it was bad for me. This guy right here, TJ. I love this guy. This is one of my best friends. We give each other total [expletive]. Mostly me giving him [expletive].”

Junior narrated how he used to play the game with his co-host, TJ Majors, for a good four or five years. He then realized what the game was doing to him.

“He [Myers] hardly ever gives me [expletive], but I give him such [expletive] sometimes. But this is one of my best buds. And the Madden League had me so mad that it was really making me like I’m like, ‘Man, I value our friendship over what this is making me feel like. And so, I’m just going to drop Madden and get out of the league. I want to be friends. Let’s just be pals,'” added Junior.

The NASCAR icon was unable to separate the emotions he truly felt for his friend and what the game was making him feel. Fortunately, he quickly became aware of this and set things right before they reached a point of no return.
Dale Jr. had also spoken about this to Jeff Gluck earlier this year.

Junior had said that the game brings out the absolute worst in people and that he knew that it wasn’t a healthy hobby if he couldn’t control his emotions around winning and losing. But Junior wasn’t the only Cup Series icon with this problem.

RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski used to be an active player as well. Apparently, he regularly broke remotes!

Post Edited By: Leslie Xavier
Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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