It was a game where you became, yes, an NFL Head Coach, in the most realistic-like I-can’t-believe-someone-actually-made-this realistic-way. Thus, NFL Head Coach, the world’s greatest office simulator for jocks, was born. I’m assuming the next (logical, admittedly) step began as a shower thought from an EA Sports bigwig: Franchise mode, for the uninitiated, is a blast-especially when it was brand new, and you finally had more things to do than tackle and throw passes. In the game, you become pseudo-GM and guide a team through 30-some years, trading players, signing free agents, and playing your way to the Super Bowl. When NFL Head Coach debuted in 2006, EA Sports’ Madden series was at its peak, thanks to one of its most popular game modes: Franchise mode. I was 12 years old when NFL Head Coach turned me into a tweenage Billy Beane and ruined my life in a way I’m only now starting to comprehend. Just like the old days, we might pull some all nighters, we might lose a friend or two, we might resort to eating too many Hot Pockets. Here, we embark on one final-maybe even fatal-playthrough of the forgotten games of our past.
