Bryce Paup Madden Career 1993-2000 - Peak 92 OVR

Bryce Paup Madden Career 1993-2000 - Peak 92 OVR

Position

LLB

Team

Bills

Height

6'5"

Weight

247

College

Northern Iowa

DOB

Feb 29, 1968

Madden

1992-1999

-OVR

1999 Current

92OVR

Peak 1992

Seasons Played

Paup grew up on a farm in Scranton, Iowa, and reached the NFL as a sixth-round pick out of Northern Iowa in 1990. Green Bay developed him into a disruptive rusher, then let him leave in free agency, a mistake the franchise later admitted was theirs. Buffalo signed him, and in 1995 he detonated, leading the league with 17.5 sacks and taking the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year award along with first-team All-Pro honors.

That season is the reason for the 92 in the 1996 edition, the top of a four-year Pro Bowl run from 1994 through 1997. He was a punishing hitter, credited by Packers fans with the 'Paup Smear,' and in 1991 one of his tackles tore Randall Cunningham's knee. By the time his final rating registered, an 83 in the 2000 edition during a last season in Minnesota, the burst had faded but the name still carried weight. He later moved into coaching.

Bryce Paup Madden Career Milestones

Peak rating: 92 OVR (calculated) in Madden NFL 1993
Appeared in 7 Madden releases (Madden NFL 1993 through Madden NFL 2000)
Biggest single-year rise: 76 points into Madden NFL 1996
Played for 3 franchises: Packers, Bills, Jaguars
Listed as a linebacker in every Madden release

Scale (starred^* rows) Only the starred 1-15-era seasons convert; modern rows stay 0-99.

Madden	Pos	OVR	Speed	ACC	AGI	STR	JMP	STA	INJ	AWR	CAR	BTK	CTH	TAK	PUR
1993 ^* 1992 NFL season	LOLB	92*	86	-	92	-	-	-	-	92	-	-	33	26	-
1995 ^* 1994 NFL season	LLB	-	58	-	50	-	-	-	-	95	-	-	-	66	50
1996 ^* 1995 NFL season	LOLB	76*	73	-	79	-	-	-	-	73	-	-	46	73	66
1997 1996 NFL season	LOLB	92	50	50	73	-	64	74	-	97	19	15	44	98	-
1998 ^* 1997 NFL season	LOLB	85*	79	-	66	-	-	-	-	92	-	-	92	33	-
1999 1998 NFL season	LLB	-	59	64	75	75	-	-	9	95	14	14	21	85	-
2000 1999 NFL season	LLB	-	64	64	69	69	-	-	69	80	29	29	29	84	-

How to read these: Each row is the player’s rating in that year’s Madden, listed by the NFL season it covers (Madden NFL 2001 = the 2000 season). Madden sets its ratings before the season is played, so they reflect the previous season’s performance - a player’s breakout year tends to show up as a jump in the following year’s game.

About the starred rows^*: Several early Madden releases rated players on a 1-15 scale, as printed in the game manuals, rather than the modern 0-99. We store those ratings converted to 0-99 (each manual point is about 6.6) so you can compare players across eras at a glance - use the 0-99 / 1-15 toggle above the table to see the original numbers on those seasons. EA didn’t publish an overall rating in those games, so the OVR* values for those years are our own calculation, the average of the player’s two best ratings.

Note: Some Madden releases tracked fewer attributes than others. Cells shown as - were not published by EA that year.

Era Linebackers who played alongside Bryce Paup

Ray Lewis

Madden NFL 1997-2013 - Ravens

Michael Brooks

Madden NFL 1992-1997 - Lions

Takeo Spikes

Madden NFL 1999-2013 - Chargers

Zach Thomas

Madden NFL 1997-2010 - Chiefs

Greg Lloyd

Madden NFL 1992-1999 - Panthers

Pepper Johnson

Madden NFL 1992-1998 - Jets

Al Wilson

Madden NFL 2000-2007 - Broncos

James Farrior

Madden NFL 1998-2012 - Steelers

#1	Josh Allen QB Wyoming	99
#2	Thurman Thomas RB Oklahoma St.	99
#3	Brian Moorman P Pittsburg St.	98
#4	Ruben Brown LG Pittsburgh	97
#5	Takeo Spikes LB Auburn	97
#6	Jason Peters LT Arkansas	97
#7	Mario Williams DE North Carolina St.	97
#8	Stefon Diggs WR Maryland	97

Bryce Paup Madden Ratings by Year

Bryce Paup Madden NFL 1993 rating: 92 OVR (1992 NFL season, GB). Bryce Paup Madden NFL 1995 rating: rated (1994 NFL season, GB). Bryce Paup Madden NFL 1996 rating: 76 OVR (1995 NFL season, BUF). Bryce Paup Madden NFL 1997 rating: 92 OVR (1996 NFL season, BUF). Bryce Paup Madden NFL 1998 rating: 85 OVR (1997 NFL season, BUF). Bryce Paup Madden NFL 1999 rating: rated (1998 NFL season, JAX). Bryce Paup Madden NFL 2000 rating: rated (1999 NFL season, JAX).