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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Barry Werner

Madden Bowl champ runs to victory, dedicates title to late friend

Go short, go deep. Actually, if you want to win the Madden Bowl, your receivers don’t have to go anywhere. Just have the quarterback handoff.

Raidel “Joke” Brito, a 26-year-old from West New York, NJ used a run-only offense en route to a 17-0 stifling of Daniel “Dcroft” Mycroft of Mukilteo, Washington, to win on Madden’s biggest stage Saturday.

He earned a $65,000 purse and a title belt made of 24-karat gold plate with over 700 Swarovski rhinestones, weighing 12 pounds. Before the crown, Brito had more than $200,000 in career earnings, 11 EA major appearances, and multiple Madden Bowl final fours.

Per ESPN.com

Joke broke into tears after the win. But he explained on ESPN2 that even though the title was a long time coming for him, he wasn’t emotional because of the victory; he had dedicated this tournament, win or lose, to his good friend Taylor “SpotMe” Robertson, who was killed in 2018 in the mass shooting at a Madden tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.

“It’s pretty cool that Joke won,” Tyler Davis, a Madden competitor and commentator said. “Almost like it was destiny.”

Since the tournament was played entirely online, a surprise was put in place: The scene cut to Derwin James, a safety for the Los Angeles Chargers and also a devoted Madden player, who showed off the blinged-out belt and announced he would be mailing it to Joke — before hoisting it in the air on his behalf.

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