Madden NFL 97 is the first Madden NFL

Madden NFL

Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The game series is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a well-known former Super Bowl-winning coach of the Oakland Raiders and color commentator...

 football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 game to be created in the 32-bit gaming era. It was originally created for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn

Sega Saturn

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...

, but other versions were also released, including the 16 bit SNES.

This was the first edition of Madden to implement the use of a salary cap

Salary cap

In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...

 when customizing team rosters. It also featured the new Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

, the expansion franchise that absorbed the roster of the Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 for the 1996 season

1996 NFL season

The 1996 NFL season was the 77th regular season of the National Football League and the season was marked by notable controversies from beginning to end...

. The game also adds a team of real free agents (as opposed to the blank slate used in Madden 96) which can be traded and added to other teams' rosters (led by recently semi-retired quarterback Randall Cunningham

Randall Cunningham

Randall W. Cunningham is a former American football quarterback.After playing college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he was selected in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he remained through the 1995 season...

), and could be played by using a cheat code.

Classic teams were once again used, although most were different from the previous year's teams; the years ranged as far back as 1952 (Detroit Lions

1952 Detroit Lions season

Detroit Lions 17, Cleveland Browns 7 Scoring*DET - Layne 2-yard run *DET - Walker 67-yard run *CLE - Jagade 7-yard run *DET - FG Harder 36-References:***...

) and as recent as 1990 (Buffalo Bills

1990 Buffalo Bills season

The 1990 Buffalo Bills season was the 31st season for the team in the National Football League. The Buffalo Bills finished the National Football League's 1990 season with a record of 13 wins and 3 losses, and finished first in the AFC East division. The Bills were 8–0 at home for the second time in...

). Jacksonville

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and Carolina

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

, once again, did not get classic teams, but Baltimore was attached to a classic Cleveland Browns team.

The best team in the overall ranking, with a score of 85 was the Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 and the worst team with a score of 62 was the Baltimore Ravens. The best ranked offenses were between the Cowboys and the Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

 with a score of 92. The St.Louis Rams had the best ranked defense with an 86. The Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

had the best ranked special teams with a 93.