Tyreek Hill becomes first Dolphin named to Madden 99 club

The first game in the now massively popular Madden series came out over 35 years ago. While a good portion of the fanbase wasn’t even alive yet when that first game dropped, the years have seen the video game series transcend gaming and become a cultural phenomenon. It’s a yearly tradition for many, and has grown to the point where the “unveiling” of player rankings makes more news than the game itself.

The Miami Dolphins have had a number of good players during the Madden reign. Most of Dan Marino’s career overlapped with the video game. There was the Ricky Williams years. Chris Chambers and Randy McMichael. And yet, this year wide receiver Tyreek Hill was able to achieve something none of them did: Reach the ever-elusive 99 Club.

The 99 Club is reserved for the upper echelon of the game, those players who are at the very top of their game and have achieved the highest rating possible in the game, a 99 overall. As of today, Hill is the only wide receiver in the latest edition of the game to be given a 99 overall rating, and he is the first player in Miami Dolphins franchise history to be given the rating.

That may not seem like a big deal to some, but Madden has become so much more than just a video game over the years. It’s something that a large portion of the NFL plays, interacts with in some capacity, and genuinely cares about how they’re perceived in the game. Reaching the top rating achievable in the game is a big deal, and it’s another feather in the cap of a great career that Hill is putting together.