EA Sports has officially announced the newest members of its annual ’99 Club.’ While some are busy celebrating the due recognition of their favorite players, others are noticing that there’s at least one name that is notably absent from this year’s list.
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Despite featuring him on the cover of their G.O.A.T. edition just a few years ago, EA Sports has decided to revoke Patrick Mahomes’ membership from the 99 Club. The pride and joy of the Kansas City Chiefs had been a member for four of the past five years.
But according to the former Cincinnati Bengal and the current face of the developer’s ranking system, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, it was more than “fair” to exclude Mahomes from the group following his 2024 regular and postseason performances.
“He’s a 98, it’s not bad,” Johnson explained while discussing the rankings on ESPN’s First Take.
“He was in the 99 Club, obviously. He’s coming off of, not a poor season, but one where they didn’t win the Super Bowl. But he has a good chance that he’s not taking a step back or anything like that. They just have room for improvement. He has room for improvement. He showed that he is human.”
Johnson isn’t wrong. Mahomes and co. looked every bit as mortal throughout the lopsided contest that was Super Bowl LIX.
Mahomes proved to be responsible for a pair of turnovers himself that day, with one of his two interceptions resulting in a momentum-wrecking pick-six in the second quarter of the game. His 11.4 QBR was the second worst to ever be recorded in a Super Bowl since the metric was debuted in 2006, and the 34-point deficit that the Chiefs faced in the waning moments of the third quarter is the largest that Mahomes has ever seen in his professional career.
If it weren’t for a pair of garbage-time touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy, Kansas City would have been responsible for the biggest loss in Super Bowl history. Suffice to say, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles left a permanent stain on Mahomes’ Hall of Fame resume.
Nevertheless, he’s still the most prominent passer in the NFL today, which seemed to be more than enough to keep him above the 95 OVR tier in Madden. Given that he’s just a single point away from making a return to the 99 Club, it likely won’t be long before Chiefs fans will be able to see that coveted number next to Mahomes’ name once again.
Unfortunately, a late addition to the list doesn’t get you a 99 OVR chain and pendant, so Mahomes will have to settle for the four of them that are already sitting in his jewelry case at home. Of course, there’s always next year’s release to look forward to as well.
