Fans of the Madden football video game franchise got their first glimpse into the next installment of the long running series, with a familiar face greeting them on the box cover. The name behind the popular game collection, Hall of Fame coach John Madden, will grace the covers of Madden 23, four months after his death.
The EA Sports title will come in three different versions, and each will feature an image of John Madden at different stages of his life. The newly released cover for the “All Madden” version of the game depicts a young John Madden smiling while holding a football in his hand.
This will be the first time since 2000 that the former Raiders head coach will be featured as the cover athlete on the game. Since 2000, some of the biggest stars in the NFL have graced the covers of the games, including Rob Gronkowski, Calvin Johnson, Drew Brees, Lamar Jackson, and most recently Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady as joint cover athletes on Madden 22.
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In addition to announcing the cover art, EA Sports also revealed Wednesday it's dedicating a field at its headquarters in Northern California to the legend who died in December.
Madden is expected to be honored in several other ways in this year's game. EA Sports officials are slated to announce more features in the coming months before the game’s release.
Madden cover athletes are connected with a light hearted conspiracy. The “Madden Curse”, as fans call it, says that athletes who appear on the cover of Madden games have a tendency to get injured or have a lackluster season following their appearance on the game. It started in 1998 with Garrison Hearst, who broke his ankle shortly after appearing on the cover of Madden NFL 99. Since then, 16 other athletes who appeared on the cover of Madden titles have suffered injuries or dropped off in production after their appearance on the cover of the games.
Luckily for John Madden, his cover athlete status will only honor and reinforce his status as one of the greatest coaches the NFL has ever seen.