In the long history of the Madden NFL video game franchise, there has never been a former Penn State player to grace the cover of the annual release. But that could be about to change in the coming years if [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] continues to perform.
Parsons is spending time this summer helping to promote this year’s release of the franchise, Madden NFL 23. The franchise is returning to its roots to pay tribute to the man behind the game, John Madden. Madden will be featured on the cover of this year’s game following his passing. It will be the first year since 2000 that Madden appears on the cover of the game by himself.
But it is safe to assume a player or players will return to the cover for next year’s installment of the game. Parsons says it would be a dream come true to appear on the cover of the game.
“I heard about this Madden Curse,” Parsons said in an interview with CBS Sports while promoting Madden NFL 23. “But man, a Madden cover would be a dream come true. Seeing some of the greatest players come on that cover, that would def be a dream come true.”
Is the Madden curse real? It is fun to dissect a bit and there are some valid examples that saw players coincidentally see their season cut short for one reason or another. The last players to appear on the cover of the game were Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes for Madden NFL 22. You have to go back to 2016’s release of Madden NFL 17 to find a time when the curse supposedly hit with Rob Gronkowski had injury problems throughout the season and watched the New England Patriots win a Super Bowl without his services.
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