Post-NFL careers, for many players, mean moving on from a sport that’s been an integral part of their lives for decades. But for one-time Washington Redskin Clint Oldenburg, the game is still the thing — even if football for him now is as much pixels and polygons as it is tackles and touchdowns.
These days, the former lineman who bounced around the NFL from 2007 to 2011 huddles up with his fellow game designers at EA, the makers of Madden, the country’s most popular football video game. Madden drops its highly anticipated annual update on Friday.
At EA, part of Oldenburg’s job is to serve as a coach who can communicate real-life football concepts for both the game’s coders and the virtual players they create.
Like preparing for an NFL season, unveiling the annual Madden takes preparation.
“This isn’t a job where you can kind of take the day off,” Oldenburg said. “There’s always new challenges. But in this case, instead of using my body to overcome those challenges, I’m using my mind, solving difficult problems. I’m coming up with cool things that people think are fun.”
For Oldenburg, the path from backup offensive lineman to full-time game designer began with a tip from his older brother.
New career
After five years in the league and stints with six teams — the Patriots, Jets, Rams, Broncos, Vikings and Redskins — Oldenburg was at a crossroads: Keep chasing his NFL dream or take a chance on the paid internship he’d been offered at EA and move to Orlando, Florida, to work on the game-maker’s signature NCAA football and Madden franchises. He’d applied for the internship on the suggestion of his older brother, Lee Oldenburg.
Released in the 2011 preseason by the Redskins after missing the previous year to injury, Oldenburg decided his football future would unfold in the world of video games, not on the fields of the NFL.
That switch, and the different mindset it required Oldenburg to adopt, was tough in the early days, he said.
“We watch all the guys and we have the film tool the NFL gives us, so we can study any game we want over the last nine years,” Oldenburg said. “And I would see plenty of guys out there playing that I knew, that I was better than … and [I] should have been on the field.”
But Oldenburg found an outlet for that competitive streak in video games — though the learning curve, at first, was steep.
“It was really awkward for me,” he said. Forget about writing computer code — Oldenburg said he had trouble deciphering the arcane acronyms casually tossed around by his tech-savvy co-workers. Hearing a cadence and knowing how to pick up a blitzing linebacker? That was easy by comparison.
Lee Oldenburg said he knew his younger brother had a lot to learn — and fast — if he was going to make it in the fast-moving industry.
“I can remember two times in my brother’s life where he was frustrated because Clint rarely failed at anything,” Lee said. “He was a superior athlete and a superior student. He was pretty much the best at whatever he did. There were two times. The first time with the New England Patriots at rookie camp when he struggled to learn their playbook and deal with some of the defensive linemen. When he got to EA … It just felt like, if they could carve out a role for you, maybe it’ll work,” he said. “That’s where I credit EA for finding his skillset and finding what he was good at.”
One Redskin who played alongside Oldenburg isn’t surprised his former teammate carved out a role for himself in the game industry.
“I don’t think it’s unorthodox,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “I think it’s probably, if you want to get the most realistic reviews and outlook on it, I think you’d have to get a pro if you’re going to do a pro game.”
Familiar challenges
Designing video games can be a contact sport — just look at Oldenburg’s Twitter account. Fans don’t pull punches when it comes to criticizing a game or asking why certain features aren’t part of the gameplay. Madden is constantly compared to other sports video games such as NBA 2k, FIFA and MLB the Show. If Madden gamers aren’t happy, Oldenburg is likely to hear about it.
Ever the competitor, Oldenburg tracks the quality of other sports games, admitting he’s come to “love to hate them.”
As a player, he was taught to skip the sports page and focus on getting better. Put the blinders on. But in the video game industry, Oldenburg can’t afford to ignore outside factors.
“Today’s day and age, you have access to all this information and no matter how good or poor, how true or untrue the information is, it’s always right there in front of you,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t influence me.”
Dealing with fan feedback on a game that’s updated annually can be demanding — Oldenburg said it’s common for gamers and even NFL players to suggest “simple” changes that might take two years. For this year’s Madden, Oldenburg’s primary task was developing the gameplay mechanics, adding new wide receiver and defensive back interactions and a new online game mode.
Future editions of the game will see Oldenburg’s Madden role expanding. He’ll take on more responsibilities that mirror creative director Rex Dickson. Oldenburg couldn’t share the full details, but said he would be working on the user interface and digital content side, while maintaining his gameplay duties.
It’s a different life for a journeyman who once bounced around the NFL before finding his football destiny — and more than football — off the field. Part of that life outside the white lines includes raising an eight-month-old son with his wife of three years — whom he met at EA.
“Everyday I come in here, I feel like I just started,” Oldenburg said. “And it’s crazy that I’ve been here almost six years now.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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