I was always the exact opposite. I relied too heavily on my passing game. I mean, Garrett doesn't have shit on my Madden game.
CSB time.
Back when I was really good at Madden in the late 90's early 2000's, my running game had quite the reputation in the competitive circuit.
I went to tourney's from 98-2002. It was basically thrown in hotel ballrooms by a guy who called himself The Swami. There was no EA sponsorship or any recognition from the industry whatsoever. It was basically a tourney thrown by the community for the community.
But it all went back to the Swammi guy. He was a good dude. A Cowboys fan out of Florida who built a website and forum by the name of thepfl.com
He created like a hub for all of these local Madden leagues across the country to meet and chat with one another, and through that, he built what he called was "The PFL" which united them all for competitive play. I the first major tourney that I attended was the Madden 2001 tournament in New Orleans at the Sheraton Hotel where I placed 3rd out of roughly 100-plus players from around the country. In that tournament, I knocked off the 2-time reigning champ -- another Houston player who called himself the Candyman.
You're pretty good at digging up stuff on the web, see if you can find anything. I did a quick google search of The PFL and The Swammi, and this is all I could find:
The MWS is a spinoff of The PFL.com, and the Madden NFL enthusiasts who first visited that forum. The PFL.com Madden NFL Forum first appeared on the Internet in 1997, and started gaining popularity in Summer and/or Fall of 1998. Israel Charles, otherwise known as "The Swammi" to Madden NFL fans, headed up the Forum, and was sooned joined on the forum not only by members of The PFL Madden NFL PlayStation League, but Madden NFL enthusiasts from all over the country. And The Greatest GAME EVER!
It wasn't until Fall of 2000 when the members of The PFL.com forum sought to create a governing body similar to what the NCAA was to collegiate athletics. Led by the efforts of Patrick "Player-Coach" Sims, The Madden World Syndicate became a reality by early 2001.
Those were good times.