As his career comes down the final stretch en route to Canton, Tom Brady has checked off one feat he has yet to accomplish. The New England Patriots quarterback has been unveiled by EA Sports as this year’s cover athlete for Madden NFL 18.
Brady will appear on the covers of the standard version of Madden NFL 18 as well as the G.O.A.T. Edition, shown below…
The 🐐.#Madden18 drops August 25th. Reserve your copy: https://t.co/qMgP03bOWg pic.twitter.com/isbRcevu4F
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) May 12, 2017
EA Sports also rolled out the official trailer for the game, and this year’s game looks stunning with a new Frostbite engine being used to create more photo-realistic environments and better stadium detail.
Madden like you’ve never seen it…#Madden18 pic.twitter.com/1H5gNSVISD
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) May 12, 2017
Steve Noah of Operation Sports shared the images of the covers for both versions of the game as they will be sold for the Microsoft Xbox One and the Sony PlayStation 4.
Tom Brady is the Madden NFL 18 cover athlete pic.twitter.com/fVDDckCGnR
— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) May 12, 2017
Those who splurge for the G.O.A.T. Edition (why it can’t just be called the special edition is beyond me, but whatever) will get a ton of in-game bonuses out of the box like being able to use an “Elite” player from your favorite NFL team in dynasty mode, 12 Squad packs, 2,500 contracts and one uniform pack in Madden NFL 18 Ultimate Team. Some of the actual game features will be getting some tweaks this year as well, including target passing.
This marks the first time Brady has graced the cover of the popular NFL video game franchise, but it is not the first time Brady has been featured as the cover athlete for an NFL video game. Brady previously appeared on the cover of NFL GameDay 2003 for the PlayStation 2.
https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/863032024545845248
We know that Brady came come back from one of the biggest deficits in the Super Bowl, but now he takes on the greatest curse in sports, the Madden Cover Curse. That is, if you believe such a thing exists. It should be noted that last year’s version of the game, Madden NFL 17, featured another Patriot on the cover. Tight end Rob Gronkowski was the featured athlete for the game. While the Patriots did go on to win the Super Bowl, Gronk was on the sideline for the bulk of the season and the entire postseason after being placed on injured reserve.
Brady may be on the cover, but his teammate Julian Edelman made his case for the cover shot too.
hey @EAMaddenNFL kiiiiiiiinda the perfect cover #justsayin pic.twitter.com/TSVOm9oXDC
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) May 11, 2017
With Brady on the cover this year, Oakland Raiders punter Marquette King will have to wait another year for his shot.
https://twitter.com/MarquetteKing/status/862813716819005440
Madden NFL 18 will be released on August 25. If anyone from EA Sports happens to be reading this, I’d be cool receiving an advance review copy. Just saying.
In related news, it has now been 1,403 days and counting since the last NCAA Football title was released by EA Sports.
