Ronald McKinnon Madden Career 1997-2005 - Peak 89 OVR

Ronald McKinnon Madden Career 1997-2005 - Peak 89 OVR

Position

MLB

Team

Cardinals

Height

6'0"

Weight

246

College

North Alabama

DOB

Sep 20, 1973

Madden

1996-2004

89OVR

2004 Current

89OVR

Peak 2004

Seasons Played

Before he ever took an NFL snap, Ronald McKinnon had won three straight Division II national titles at North Alabama and claimed the 1995 Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player at that level. None of it got him drafted. Arizona signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1996, and the linebacker turned into a fixture in the middle of the Cardinals defense, holding the job from 1996 through 2004 before closing out with a season in New Orleans. In 2008 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, uncommon recognition for a small-school defender.

Madden treated him the way the draft did, at least at first. His 1996 rookie card carried a 26. By the 2000 edition he had climbed to an 83, and after a few years bouncing between the high 70s and low 80s he hit his ceiling with an 89 in the 2004 edition, then settled at 88 the following year.

Ronald McKinnon Madden Career Milestones

Peak rating: 89 OVR in Madden NFL 2005 (age 30)
Appeared in 8 Madden releases (Madden NFL 1997 through Madden NFL 2005)
Entered at 26 OVR in Madden NFL 1997, climbed 63 points to his peak
Biggest single-year rise: 81 points into Madden NFL 1999
Played for the Cardinals across every Madden release in his career
Listed as a linebacker in every Madden release
Final Madden appearance: Madden NFL 2005 at 89 OVR

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	TGH	AWR	THP	TAS	TAM	TAD	CAR	BTK	CTH	RBK	PBK	TAK	KPW	KAC	KRN
1997 1996 NFL season	LB	26	58	39	62	-	55	58	-	-	30	-	-	-	-	21	15	31	-	-	30	-	-	-
1998 ^* 1997 NFL season	RLB/MLB	-	46	-	46	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	33	-	-	53	-	-	-
1999 1998 NFL season	MLB	81*	56	56	69	73	-	-	9	-	85	-	-	-	-	19	21	14	-	-	78	-	-	-
2000 1999 NFL season	MLB	77*	58	58	69	69	-	-	75	-	75	-	-	-	-	24	34	24	-	-	80	-	-	-
2002 2001 NFL season	MLB	82	72	71	70	78	55	90	81	86	77	28	31	31	31	30	-	53	23	19	94	14	32	-
2003 2002 NFL season	MLB	77	68	65	66	78	55	85	72	86	-	32	-	-	-	33	-	55	29	23	94	19	36	-
2004 2003 NFL season	MLB	80	74	72	72	76	55	85	72	86	78	32	35	35	35	33	-	58	29	23	90	19	36	0
2005 2004 NFL season	MLB	89	76	79	74	76	55	85	72	86	88	32	-	-	-	33	-	60	52	23	94	19	36	-

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 Ronald McKinnon

Ray Lewis

Madden NFL 1997-2013 - Ravens

Brian Urlacher

Madden NFL 2001-2013 - Bears

LaVar Arrington

Madden NFL 2005 - Commanders

Michael Brooks

Madden NFL 1992-1997 - Lions

Takeo Spikes

Madden NFL 1999-2013 - Chargers

Joey Porter

Madden NFL 2001-2012 - Cardinals

Zach Thomas

Madden NFL 1997-2010 - Chiefs

Greg Lloyd

Madden NFL 1992-1999 - Panthers

#1	Larry Fitzgerald WR Pittsburgh	99
#2	DeAndre Hopkins WR Clemson	98
#3	Adrian Wilson SS North Carolina St.	97
#4	Neil Rackers K Illinois	97
#5	Edgerrin James RB Miami (FL)	96
#6	Calais Campbell DE Miami (FL)	96
#7	Tyrann Mathieu FS LSU	96
#8	Leonard Davis RG Texas	95

Ronald McKinnon Madden Ratings by Year

Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 1997 rating: 26 OVR (1996 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 1998 rating: rated (1997 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 1999 rating: 81 OVR (1998 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 2000 rating: 77 OVR (1999 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 2002 rating: 82 OVR (2001 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 2003 rating: 77 OVR (2002 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 2004 rating: 80 OVR (2003 NFL season, ARI). Ronald McKinnon Madden NFL 2005 rating: 89 OVR (2004 NFL season, ARI).