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Madden NFL Cover Athletes
Arthur Roderick Each year since 1999, the Madden NFL video game has selected one notable National Football League player to grace the cover. These Madden NFL cover athletes were each selected for the honor for one reason or another, such as being the best in the league at their position, winning the Super Bowl or doing something really awesome.
The popular football video game was first released in 1988 and initially featured Pro Football Hall of Fame former player turned broadcaster John Madden on the cover. In 1999, Electronic Arts started the trend of selecting one NFL player to appear on the cover, thus starting the Madden NFL cover athlete tradition. Garrison Hearst was the first to take the cover from Madden, appearing on the video game in 1999.
While the Madden NFL cover athletes receive the distinction of gracing the cover of the video game and landing in the homes of millions of football fans around the globe, many believe with great glory comes the Madden Curse.
Similar to athletes who have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, many who were selected to appear on Madden NFL saw some sort of misfortune in the following season such as injury or legal trouble. Accordingly, fans often campaign against their favorite player appearing on the cover out of fear of the curse.
Curse or not, just like the NCAA Football cover athletes, the football players who have appeared on Madden NFL received a great honor that will be remembered for years to come.
The popular football video game was first released in 1988 and initially featured Pro Football Hall of Fame former player turned broadcaster John Madden on the cover. In 1999, Electronic Arts started the trend of selecting one NFL player to appear on the cover, thus starting the Madden NFL cover athlete tradition. Garrison Hearst was the first to take the cover from Madden, appearing on the video game in 1999.
While the Madden NFL cover athletes receive the distinction of gracing the cover of the video game and landing in the homes of millions of football fans around the globe, many believe with great glory comes the Madden Curse.
Similar to athletes who have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, many who were selected to appear on Madden NFL saw some sort of misfortune in the following season such as injury or legal trouble. Accordingly, fans often campaign against their favorite player appearing on the cover out of fear of the curse.
Curse or not, just like the NCAA Football cover athletes, the football players who have appeared on Madden NFL received a great honor that will be remembered for years to come.
- 6
For the first time, the cover of Madden NFL featured two top football players for the 2010 edition. Safety Troy Polamalu, having just won the Super Bowl with his Pittsburgh Steelers, was one of the two selected. - 7
To celebrate the end of a long career of legendary quarterback Brett Favre, EA Sports selected the former Green Bay Packer to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 2009 in his Packer green and yellow. Favre however had other plans and came out of retirement (for the first time) to join the New York Jets. As usual, misfortune followed the cover athlete as he was implicated in a sexting scandal in 2010. - 8
Standout college football quarterback and two-time Rose Bowl MVP Vince Young was selected to front the 2008 edition of Madden NFL after a stellar rookie season. Young had favorable a season immediately after the selection however in December 2008 he was troubled by off-field issues which in turn affected his play. - 9
Coming in after he was named the NFL MVP, running back Shaun Alexander added Madden NFL cover athlete to his resume in 2007. Unfortunately after receiving the honor, Alexander missed six games during the 2006 season after breaking his foot in a game against the New York Giants. - 10
After leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl, quarterback Donovan McNabb fell under the Madden Curse after he appeared on the cover of the game in its 2006 edition. Just as several had before, McNabb suffered a season-ending injury during the year when he tore his ACL in a game against the Tennessee Titans.
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Madden NFL Cover Athletes at 11/09/2012 2:30 PM
Madden NFL Cover Athletes at 8/04/2012 8:30 AM
Madden NFL Cover Athletes at 7/18/2012 9:30 PM