10. NFL 2K1
Does anything summon more nostalgia than playing NFL 2K1 on the Sega Dreamcast? This glorious game and the console we played it on were too pure for this world. Both would be gone within five years, but their legacies will never be forgotten.
2K1 was the first console game to have online play, blazing the path for many a curse word and hurled controller to come later. It had the bullet, lob, and normal pass scheme that has become the standard quarterback setup for football games. Ok, Madden. It's the standard setup for Madden. We'll get to all that, I'm not bitter, I swear.
The AI was actually smart enough to double team a receiver that had burned them for 150 yards and two TDs. Players in franchise mode would see their ratings dip after too many bad showings on the field. 2K1's 97 overall Metacritic rating declares Universal Acclaim for a title that paved the way for so many others.
9. NFL Street 2
I love a good NFL football sim, but there's something inherently awesome about offerings that throw the rulebook away. Street was a 7-on-7 arcade series back in the halcyon days of EA Sports "Big" label. A legendary cast, including everyone from noted cheat code Michael Vick to William "Refrigerator" Perry could line up at any position to create mayhem.
The whole backyard aesthetic breathed life into a world where you could tackle people into brick walls, and if powered up enough, they could shrug that off and just keep pushing. The Gamebreaker meter was Street's answer to NBA Jam's "On Fire" mode, and it was just as powerful. Even better, you filled the meter by showboating. Backwards passes and celebration runs have always been fun to do to a hapless opponent, but in NFL Street they were a strategic choice.
Madden keeps trying to revive this feeling with modes such as The Yard, and Superstar KO, but now EA is too busy trying to sell us bling and new sweatpants to find this level of fun again.
8. Mutant League Football
While NFL Street, NFL Blitz, and other arcade titles had to play within the framework of a real pro league license, MFL was a parody of American football played by ghoulish monsters. It was filled with dirty plays, crooked refs, and even allowed you to win by killing members of the opposing team.
Special plays included throwing a bomb pass that was - really a bomb. At one point, the game's popularity was enough to warrant its own Saturday morning cartoon. Ask your parents about those, kids.
We get fewer and fewer arcade titles with that sense of humor these days.
7. Madden NFL 04
Two words: Michael Vick. EA's developers realized what a human cheat code the quarterback was and fought back against internal pressure to cap his speed at 89.
Some inside EA were afraid a QB faster than all but two running backs in the game would break the simulation completely. Ratings czar Donny Moore argued that Vick was really that fast, and was breaking the real life NFL.
Both were right. Vick was the most unstoppable video game athlete since Tecmo Bowl's Bo Jackson. Inspired by the arcade antics of Tecmo Bowl, one of the most popular tricks with Vick players was to run all the way back to their goal line before chucking a ridiculous throw downfield.
After Vick's rampage, EA realized the defense needed better tools to counter the new breed of athlete taking over the game.
6. NCAA Football 14
None of us knew it when College Football 14 launched, but it would be the last NCAA licensed college football offering for a decade. The NCAA's system exploited college athletes for decades, but nobody would have envisioned EA's games would be the tipping point.
Ed O' Bannon wondered how EA was using his likeness in basketball titles without compensating him or anyone else. While the NCAA, athletes, and their lawyers worked out the details, the NCAA series remained in legal limbo.
Reviews for NCAA 14 were not universally great, and I would not argue with you if you said NCAA 2003 was a better game. But it was NCAA 14 that some gamers would end up playing for a decade while waiting for the series to return.
This spot in the top 10 belongs to the fans as much it does to the game itself, and their dedication ensured the franchise would return. It's cliche, but this is truly a situation in which you had to be there.
5. NFL Blitz 2000
As I mentioned earlier, games that throw out all football's rules have a special place in my heart. Nobody ever did that better than Midway's beloved NFL Blitz franchise, and this was its best incarnation.
The elevator pitch is basically NBA Jam, but make it football. Late hits are actively encouraged, and don't really stop being fun. I'll be honest: If you prefer a single-player experience, NFL Street 2 has more to offer you. But Blitz rivals Mario Party and peak Among Us for being some of the best multiplayer fun you can have in a game.
NFL Blitz's go big or go home DNA runs through so many modern arcade offerings, and not just the football versions. Even titles such as Rocket League and Rematch owe a debt to NFL Blitz and its wonderful post play legdrops.
4. College Football 26
This one will be controversial. I often don't put the latest titles in these countdowns on principle, not wanting my judgment to be clouded by the moment at hand. You don't know if you'll still be a playing a game in 10 years until it has been 10 years.
That said, CFB 25 was one of the bestselling games (not just sports games, but games) of 2024. It not only moved units, it moved consoles as people who hadn't picked up a game in 10 years came back. It was an industry wide phenomenon.
Yet CFB 26 is better in just about every way. There are thousands more plays. Recruiting is more difficult, with many more factors to consider. Players special abilities can upgrade or downgrade in midgame if they're not playing well. I put 100s of hours into CFB 25, and regret none of them. Yet this year's game is so much better.
It nails every bit of the presentation and pageantry of college football, from its countless trophies to traditions such as Virginia Tech's Enter Sandman entrance. This is one every college football loving gamer should own, if for some reason they don't already.
3. Madden NFL 05
Two words: Hit Stick. With mobile quarterbacks such as Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick leading a revolution, Madden had swung heavily in favor of the offense. But defenders get paid too, and it was obvious that players such as Vick 04 couldn't be allowed to exist without some kind of counter.
Enter the Hit Stick, one of the most skill intensive upgrades in gaming history. Ever since Madden 05, running free in the open field has carried a huge risk. One solid hit stick is all it takes the separate the ballcarrier from the ball.
To this day, any assessment of a competitive Madden player will address their "stick skills."
In his review for IGN, Jon Robinson explained it this way:
"Sure, keep it on Pro level and you can still run up the score and throw off of your back foot 40 yards to a streaking receiver. But play on All-Madden and try these same tricks and you'll be slapped with a reality that stings harder than a Ray Lewis spear."
The hit stick was joined by defensive hot routes and defensive playmaker abilities, but that wasn't all. Franchise mode had layers modern Maddens are still struggling to live up to. Franchise mode felt alive as it included coverage from local newspapers and sports radio hosts including Tony Bruno. After all, nothing makes you feel more like a billionaire NFL owner than Giants Joey from Jersey calling in to say you're a complete idiot for not drafting his favorite college linebacker.
Madden 05 was an incredible part of a sadly short-lived rivalry between EA Sports and 2K Sports.
2. Tecmo Super Bowl
Before Michael Vick gave players nightmares in Madden 04, Bo Jackson ended friendships. The legendary runner's gaming reign of terror began in earnest in 1987's Tecmo Bowl. This clip from Family Guy is not exaggerated:
Somehow both Jackson and the game got better with 1991's Tecmo Super Bowl. It was the first game to include all 28 NFL teams. It's hard to explain just how revolutionary this was now, since we have a whole generation raised on Madden games where this was standard.
When you fired up a football video game before Tecmo Bowl, there was no telling what level of authenticity you were getting. Even a real player's name was on the front of the cartridge, he might be the only real NFL player in the game.
Tecmo Super Bowl gave it all to us. All our favorite teams, players with real stats that brought the league to life on your screen. Randall Cunningham was blazing fast, Dave Krieg was aggressively mid, and Bo Jackson was Bo MF'ing Jackson, a football god.
In spite of the realism, at its core the game was surprisingly simple. Somebody who didn't even follow the sport could pick it up and play, and it was so much fun many did.
ESPN ranked it as the best sports game of all time, even more impressive when you consider my no.1 carries literal ESPN branding.
1. NFL 2K5
You know you're good when your competition can only beat you by buying the NFL license out from under you. NFL 2K5 achieved perfection by seamlessly integrating ESPN's industry-leading presentation.
Chris Berman's halftime show hasn't been equaled in the two decades since this game graced our screens. This title sold consoles every time somebody walked into a room and tried to figure out how you were watching a football game at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon.
2K5 introduced The Crib, a digital hangout in which you could display all the numerous cool things you had unlocked playing the football sim. I truly believe The Crib was the origin story for countless crypto bros and Ultimate Team developers.
The VIP feature allowed you to play against AIs represented by the likes of Jamie Kennedy and Carmen Electra. The inclusion of C-list celebrities might give things a dated feel if it wasn't part of a gamechanging innovation.
2K5 could also create VIP profiles for you or anyone you played with regularly. Using an AI to simulate a real person's playcalling is a feature EA is still struggling with in Madden NFL 26.
Oh by the way NFL 2K5 launched at $19.99, half of what other games were charging. EA Sports wanted no more of this smoke, despite Madden 05 being just as good and better in some aspects. EA would negotiate an exclusive license with the NFL for simulation games, a deal that has remained in place ever since.
It ended not just any chance for 2K to compete, but any other football title. But celebrities who die young occupy a special place in our hearts. Do we view NFL 2K5 through rose-colored nostalgia glasses? You better believe we do. But did it do multiple things better than any football game had before or since? You better believe it did.