Madden 99 Club only relevant for who they left out once again

Every year, Madden video game ratings only serve as a platform for nation-wide complaints. The video game is consistently wrong with how they rate players for their game, and the release of those ratings sparks discussion every single year.

One of the most important aspects of Madden ratings is their annual "99 Club", which is the small, very select group of players who earn a 99 overall rating in the game.

And just like everything else, they get this wrong every year. Not so much for the players they include, but the players they leave out. This year, the player who was snubbed the worst was Denver Broncos Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II.

Pat Surtain II the biggest snub in Madden 26 99 Club

There's nothing wrong with the guys Madden picked to be in the 99 Club this season, but there's something really wrong with who they left out.

After winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year last year, and shutting down one of the guys in this particular 99 Club in the matchups he's had with him over the past few years, how is it possible that Surtain was left out of this elite club?

Surtain does everything well at the cornerback position. He has elite athletic traits, elite ball skills, he's physical, and he's a technician. Not long ago, a group of players including Ja'Marr Chase were together with former NFL receiver Chad Johnson outlining just how hard it is to go up against Surtain, and how he seemingly has an answer for anything and everything they try to do to get separation from him.

Surtain is simply that good, and for whatever reason, Madden isn't recognizing it. There is nothing about Surtain's abilities that would cause his rating to be less than a 99 at this point. The only explanation here is that the people in charge of ratings for the Madden video game pay really close attention to Pro Football Focus rankings. PFF had the audacity to rank Surtain as the 27th-best player in the NFL after his Defensive Player of the Year campaign.

PS2 should have been in the 99 Club this year, but didn't receive the recognition. He'll probably check in at a 97 or 98, which would normally be nothing to scoff at, but Madden needs to do better about giving every player their proper credit when it's due.