Im on my third Franchise season. 2k5 Franchise mode is ages ahead of its time. So many details, this is like a football RPG. Your players gain XP and you can take a lowly receiver and turn him into Jerry Rice if trained correctly. After a while you learn who all your players are, and then its like Pokemon in the sense you have to catch the best ones your salary cap can afford.
2k5. Best Football game ever created . Must be played on a 360 since it updates it and bugfixes it (plus HDMI rules).