Playing "NFL Blitz" on the original PlayStation is one of my fonder video game memories from the late 90s. It was just a super fun game to play against another person while talking trash the entire the time.
When "NFL Blitz" rebooted under EA Sports in 2012, with the franchise's creator back at the helm, it lacked nearly all of the over-the-top-awesomeness that made the 1997 original so engaging, even to non-sports fans, and it was disappointing to say the least.
As it turns out, the NFL, reports VICE Sports, actually did cringe at the brutal animations and things like (super) late hits that were amusing staples of the original 'Blitz,' but creator Mark Turmell and lead artist Sal DiVita were able to persuade the league to stay with the project after giving them a taste of their own hypocrisy.
From the VICE Sports article itself:
"Turmell first wanted to show the NFL representatives what they had used to inspire their artistic vision for the game. So he screened a NFL Films 'Biggest Hits' video, a gleeful celebration of brutality already being marketed and sold by the league."
So the league and Midway continued to talk, ultimately reaching an agreement on what was permissible and what wasn't. The VICE Sports article is a great read and has a good deal more on the origins of "NFL Blitz," and some of the unbelievable things (e.g., stomping on the bodies of incapacitated players, exuberant trash talking involving bleeped-out curses, and mild blood spatter) the game's prototype featured.
