OJ Simpson + All-Pro Football 2K8 mascot = Drama

This is one of those instances when all the right pieces get put together and make for sensational news. It turns out that in the recently released All-Pro Football 2K8 from 2K Sports, part of publicity magnet Take-Two Interactive, features OJ Simpson. Well, that might be an issue for some people who consider the man a murderer, but it gets better. There's also a team called The Assassins in the game. Now, when you combine those two elements you get the video above: OJ Simpson making a touchdown and the Assassin mascot making a stabbing motion. 2K says it's pure coincidence, but boy is it dramatic enough to get people's panties in a twist.

We contacted 2K Sports and they said there were discussions about keeping OJ Simpson out of the game, but it eventually ended up that being a football legend, the man deserved to be in there. As for the whole Assassin thing, they didn't have an NFL license and consequently made up team names, one of them being the Assassins. They say you go through the character selection screen and you can make the team any way you want, it just happened that the two elements put together make for an incredibly awkward moment. Now, here is the key element to all of this: We asked, "Did 2K make the video for GameTrailers, therefore it being possible for [2K] to be implicated as having some hand in creating controversy?"

The 2K Sports spokesperson said, "No, to the best of my knowledge, we didn't make that video." A second call from 2K Sports confirms that they did not make the video.

So, if the drama does escalate from this point, it'll either be due to 2K having actually made the video, or people riding the wave of outrage over OJ Simpson's appearance in the game.

[Via GamePolitics]

Update: 2K Sports states clearly they did not make the video.