The first Madden football game was released on June 1 in 1988. Back then, EA didn’t have the rights to NFL team names, but John Madden Football was the most realistic game at that time with 11v11 play (something Madden insisted on despite the technical challenges it imposed).
John Madden died last December at the age of 85, and EA decided to honor the legendary head coach and commentator by putting him on the cover of Madden NFL 23. It’ll be the first time Madden has been on the cover since Madden NFL 2000.
Three different covers will feature Madden at various points of his career. One cover is an homage to the original John Madden Football game, one is an iconic photo of Madden being carried off the field after winning Super Bowl XI, and one is of Madden in the broadcast booth.
In addition to the covers, it was revealed by EA that Madden’s voice will return to the game with remastered audio clips from his broadcasting career as well as an All-Madden interactive experience from a 1970 version of the Oakland Coliseum. In addition, EA will donate $5 million, with half going to various STEAM nonprofit organizations and half going to the United Negro College Fund.
Many took notice of EA’s choice to honor the legend whose namesake is on the game. While just about everybody agreed this was the right thing to do, there was a noticeable section of the fanbase who also felt that the stagnating quality of the game over recent years was in a way hurting Madden’s legacy.
Legend 👏 #Madden23 https://t.co/7oGtYugCfk
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) June 1, 2022
THIS JUST IN — The late, great John Madden will grace the cover of #Madden23 … as he should 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/c31dCOA20N
— 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗬 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗘𝗦 (@TommySledge) June 1, 2022
The #Madden23 cover… Coach ❤️ pic.twitter.com/poJhLzp4Eh
— The Montag Group (@TheMontagGroup) June 1, 2022
It was the right choice.
It was the best choice.
It was the only choice.#Madden23 https://t.co/bxEwCCEHqI— Linus74 (@PenCapChew27) June 1, 2022
Very nice tribute to the late great John Madden. It only makes sense for him to be on the cover since he was the person who started it all for sports games. Now hopefully EA can also pay tribute to him by making a good football game! #Madden23 https://t.co/wFksJwesDN
— John sacco (@John_Sacco94) June 1, 2022
can’t wait to watch EA honor john madden’s legacy by creating another copy and paste, pay to win game!!! #Madden23
— 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙗 🐶 (@SpidaBuckets) June 1, 2022
The obvious choice was to have John Madden on the cover of #Madden23.
Glad everyone made the correct call on this. Still miss you, Coach. https://t.co/k5Vbs6PztN
— Owen (@Alakazam_428) June 1, 2022
Just be a REAL improvement! My bar is so low for #Madden23 go back to the old EA Sports motto if it's in the game, it's in the game! Ugh! SMH https://t.co/zRVM34P9hU
— Blame The Internet ♎ (@indiana85) June 1, 2022
[EA]
