To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of EA Sports’ Madden NFL Football, the most beloved sports video game franchise of all time, former NFL great Warren Sapp will step back onto the playing field to challenge fans in Madden NFL 08® on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. As part of the latest Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network Game with Fame session, Warren will be gaming live from ‘Maddenpalooza;’ the all-day music, sports, and gaming festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

Additionally, EA Sports is providing the Pro vs. G.I. Joe organization the opportunity to have Los Angeles-area troops play Madden NFL 09 with their colleagues stationed in Kuwait via Xbox LIVE.  Warren Sapp will also play against the troops overseas as part of his Game with Fame. 

Fans are being offered the rare opportunity to connect with one of the NFL’s all-time greatest players during one of the biggest events in sports video game history. For a chance to face off against Warren, send a friend request to the gamertag, SappGWF, by 5:30 PM EST (2:30 PM PST) on Monday, August 11^th. 

Warren Sapp is a retired football player who played defensive tackle in the National Football League for thirteen seasons. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders during his 13 year career. He played college football for the University of Miami Hurricanes. He was then drafted by the Buccaneers in the 1995 NFL Draft as the 12th overall pick. He spent nines seasons with the Buccaneers, where he earned seven trips to the Pro Bowl and won the Super Bowl in 2002. He moved to the Raiders in 2004. His 96.5 career sacks are the second-highest career total sacks for a defensive tackle and the 28th highest overall for a defensive lineman. His 77 sacks with the Buccaneers rank him second in the team’s history.

The Madden NFL franchise has fast become a cultural phenomenon as the most popular selling sports game in the U.S. Millions of football fans each year, including pro footballers, eagerly wait for the latest version of the game to be released to gain their first taste of the upcoming season and get the closest in-game experience possible beyond actually playing in the NFL.

To commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the award-winning Madden NFL franchise and the release of Madden NFL 09 on Xbox 360, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA will play host to ‘Maddenpalooza,’ where music, sports and gaming will collide to create an interactive fan festival for consumers. EA SPORTS has partnered with Xbox 360 and Wal-Mart for this exclusive event complete with NFL greats, Deion Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Ronnie Lott, Marcus Allen, Warren Moon, Marshall Faulk, Tim Brown, Andre Reed, Roger Craig, Rod Woodson, Warren Sapp and other former stars on-hand as well as musical performances by Good Charlotte, Busta Rhymes and more.

Pro vs. GI Joe aims to do something no other morale boosting organization does: provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to our military men and women serving overseas, primarily in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  Their mission is to set up video game competitions between professional athletes and troops stationed overseas via the Internet using an Xbox Live. Ultimately, the goal is to have fun and make these competitions more than a game.

The Xbox LIVE Game with Fame program gives Xbox LIVE subscribers the unique opportunity to meet, chat with and play Xbox 360 against some of today’s hottest stars and athletes.  Past Game with Fame celebrity players include Shawne Merriman, Marques Colston, Andy Roddick, Joba Chamberlain, Patrick Willis, Jack Black, Jenny McCarthy, Ludacris, Rihanna and more. Further information about other Xbox LIVE events is available at the Game with Fame web site, 

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/calendar/gamewithfame.