Cheerleader and Pump Up Crowd Cards
Successfully complete the "Game Situation" challenges in mini-camp mode. The Cheerleader or Pump Up Crowd Cards for the team used will be unlocked.
Madden Cards and game cheats
Get a gold rank in any event on the All Pro, Pro and Rookie levels in mini-camp mode.
Easy tackles
You can get numerous easy tackles with your MLB by using him during your kickoffs. Go to coaching strategies and find "Kickoff". Assign the third player from the left to be your MLB. Assign the first two players on the left as very slow CBs or FSs. When you kick off, kick the ball to the left side where your MLB is assigned. If you do not kick it too deeply, your MLB will be the first one downfield and will go unblocked into the return man. Note: If you have the roster space and some money, create a CB and FS and make all of their attributes zeros. You should have no trouble signing them to a contract. You can then use them on your kickoff squad and they will almost never make it downfield. With this trick, in addition to the tackles your MLB gets during the game, he will get one for every kickoff as well.
Signing players to low salaries
This trick will allow you to sign any player, no matter how big their default salary is, to a three year low-salary contract. You must do this before starting a franchise. First, edit the player's attributes from whatever they are currently down so that their overall rating is exactly 75. Depending on the position, you should be able to achieve this by simply lowering one or sometimes two of their attributes. Make sure to make a note what the original rating was so you can store the value later. Once all players you are editing are at an overall rating of 75, release the players to free agency. After releasing each player (you may have to sign some "no-name" players to your roster to maintain roster requirements, but you can release those temporary players later), back out of the roster management screen to the main menu. Choose the option to "Continue without saving" (this may not be necessary). Reenter the roster management screen and select "Free Agents." Go to whichever team you want to sign the players to and start looking for your players. You should notice that their new requested salaries and contract lengths will be for three years at a very low salary (depending on the position). Once you have signed all of your players back (and released the temporary players), go back to editing the players and return them to the original ratings. Note: According to the manual, your players will become upset if they feel they are being underpaid for how good they are performing -- you will more than likely have to re-sign some contracts throughout the year, but with the cap room you will save.
Note: This trick only works on contracts that have completely expired. During the off-season, instead of resigning your players, edit them. Change their position to something that will lower their overall ratings. For example, move a DT to a TE; or make your QB a WR. Then, resign the player. He will play poorly at his new position, making him extremely cheap. Not all player positions can be changed, but a lot of them can -- especially the higher dollar positions. After you resign the player, move him back to his original position. His overall rating will return without any negative affects. For example, it is possible to resign LeRoy Glover to a six year deal worth $1.5 million with no signing bonus at the age of 32, with an overall rating of 97 by moving him to TE.
Whenever you have to re-sign a player in franchise mode, go to player management and edit the player's position to something that would lower his stats. Re-sign him, then change him back to his original position. For example, make your QB a WR, and sign him. This also works for free agents, but not for draft picks. You cannot edit draftees until they are signed.
Fantasy draft
The following players are selected in the rounds after their name. Therefore, you can draft them in the previous round if you have a good draft pick. For example, pick #6 to 10.
Roy Williams(FS): 7
Tony Gonzalez: 12
Deangelo Hall: 13
Ed Reed: 8
Larry Fitzgerald: 10
D. Akers: 21
Shane Lechler: 23
Rashaun Woods: 31
Jim Kleinsasser: 20
Clinton Portis: 2
Brian Urlacher: 2
Steven Jackson: 27
Roy Williams(WR): 8
Lee Evans: 15
Dante Hall: 15
Reggie Williams: 16
Justin Smith: 5
Julius Peppers: 3
For example, if Brian Urlacher is drated in the second round, you must draft him in the first. If Dante Hall is drafted in the fifteenth round, you must draft him in the fourteenth round. Note: These players are always drafted in the round given; choose wisely.
Recommended players
To get a good team in the future you must get good rookies. Note: If you start them, they will get great very quickly. Some such players are as follows.
Larry Fitzgerald WR
Eli Manning QB
Sean Taylor FS
Roy Williams WR
Keniche Udeze DE
Robert Gallery LT
DeAngelo Hall CB
Steven Jackson RB
Bob Sanders FS
Ben Roethlisbergr QB
Faster player improvement
Before playing under the All-Pro or All-Madden difficulty settings, play your franchise under the Rookie or Pro levels so you can increase stats for your players easily. This will give them more attribute upgrades throughout the season. The more yards your receivers or running backs get, the more points their ratings will increase.
Easy deep routes
You can make an adjustment to your route in create-a-playbook that can make throwing the deep route much easier and the game more fun. In create-a-playbook, if you have a normal streak, adjust the route so that it is going to the side of the receiver (if on the right side, adjust the route to the right; if on left, adjust the route to the left). It is like a fade, and make sure it is at the maximum vertical yardyage. In a game, it usually works best with a play action, but it also is effective in shotgun against a normal man on man with a safety over the top situation. You should wait about two to three seconds, then lob it. It works well when you have a top speed receiver such as Bethel Johnson or Dante Hall, or against a cornerback about 93-94 speed.
Money play
The hook routes are the most successful plays to complete in in the game.
Glitch: Announcement misspelling
To have Al Michaels say Vinny Testeverde's name (Dallas Cowboys), you must change Vinny's last name "Testaverde" (default) to "Testeverde".