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Not *exactly* clear, but sounds like this particular case was negotiated individually whereas they're normally via the NFLPA.
https://theundefeated.com/features/colin-kaepernick-returns-to-madden-for-first-time-since-2016/?addata=espn:nfl:index
According to EA Sports, after Kaepernick became a free agent following the 2016 NFL season, he was not included in the group licensing agreement, which is negotiated through the NFL Players Association, meaning Madden lost the rights to the quarterback’s likeness. Thus, Kaepernick did not appear in Madden 18, Madden 19 or Madden 20. According to EA Sports, his name was also mistakenly removed from two songs — Mike WiLL Made-It’s “Bars of Soap” and YG’s “Big Bank” (featuring Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Nicki Minaj) — featured on the soundtracks of Madden 18 and Madden 19, respectively. Both instances of censorship of Kaepernick’s name in the video game were discovered by Madden users.
“We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack,” EA Sports said in 2018 before the game was updated. “Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks. We messed up, and the edit should never have happened. … We meant no disrespect, and we apologize to Colin, to YG and Big Sean, to the NFL, to all of their fans and our players for this mistake.”
This past summer, ahead of the release of Madden 21, EA Sports approached Kaepernick to negotiate the rights to his likeness so that he could return to the game for the first time in four years. According to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, Kaepernick was “hands-on” in determining exactly how his avatar was depicted in Madden 21. EA Sports confirmed that Kaepernick requested that his player in the game wear an Afro — an update from his most recent head image in 2016 that portrayed him in Madden 17 with cornrows. Also, according to multiple sources, Kaepernick weighed in heavily on his avatar’s signature celebration — a Black Power fist — to reflect how he celebrated scoring plays the last time he took to the real-life football field during the 2016 NFL season. ---
But hell, what do I know?
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