It’s been six months since we lost John Madden in December 2021, and since then, many people, including myself, have called for him to be on the cover of the next Madden video game. Typically the brightest young players grace the cover, but Madden did a great job announcing this decision. However, this is one of the best non-gameplay decisions that the company has made in quite a while.
If you were looking at an over under for how many different covers there will be this season, you could put this as 1.5, as Madden has released multiple covers of their game depending on the edition.
“We were thinking about this year’s game and who was going to go on it; it almost became an obvious answer,” executive producer of Madden NFL Seann Graddy said to ESPN. “I say that because we really wanted to celebrate Coach in the product this year and what he’s meant to us for the 30-plus years that we’ve been using his name in our game.”
This was the correct and only option the game could go with for obvious reasons. Now, they need to make this the only cover for this year’s edition, so every edition of Madden NFL 23 has his face plastered on it.
Why Was This A No-Brainer?
John Madden is the namesake of the video game franchise that millions and millions of football fans have played throughout the years.
With his passing happening in December, this was the first time that the game could honor him outside as a non-playable coach. Letting him be the sole person on the cover with one of his legendary pictures only feels fitting for this year’s edition.
It’s a Good Start
This was the bare minimum that the game could do with honoring John Madden. I believe there is the ability to create a story mode where you control John Madden as an offensive tackle in college and work your way to being drafted in the NFL Draft. Still, an injury ends your playing career before it can even really get started.
There you join the coaching fray where you work your way up the coaching ranks to become the next great John Madden and continue the life of football that he was.
Another nice little touch that the game developers can do is create a pretty good John Madden offensive tackle Madden Ultimate Team card that you have the ability to add to your MUT lineup to create the best team you can. He can be a pre-order bonus card, so everyone that wants the special edition card has the opportunity to also have him as an offensive tackle option as well as a legendary coach.
In Closing
Without John Madden, football would not be nearly as popular as it is today with the invention of a simulation football video game for the younger generations to get their hands on. Madden has three different acts in his football life as a player/coach, color commentator, and in the world of video games.
Honoring him with the cover of one of the most successful sports video game franchises is just the tip of the iceberg of what the game developers can really do to showcase the life of Mr. John Madden.
Madden has had some major issues of just feeling like it is a roster update and not a brand new game. This really gives it a different view and can make it feel even more special than it already will be.
There are a couple of potential opportunities that can really make Madden NFL 23 one of the most distinct in the entire franchise, and the extra involvement post-mortem of Madden can really make this memorable and a nice thank you to the man that made all of this possible.
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