Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson revealed Tuesday that he will be on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 21 video game next year.
“It’s always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, since I first started playing Madden,” Jackson told reporters on a video conference call. “It’s dope. I have every Madden. So for me to be on the front of it, that’s a dream come true.”
It marks the second straight year in which the reigning league MVP will be featured on the cover. The Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes graced the cover of the game’s most recent edition, after winning MVP in 2018. He went on to win MVP of Super Bowl LIV this season.
Jackson said Mahomes’ success is reason enough to dismiss the supposed “Madden curse.”
“I’m not worried about the curse. Patrick Mahomes is on the front and he won (Super Bowl) MVP,” Jackson said. “I want that curse. I hope that’s the curse.”
Jackson will be the third quarterback on the cover in the last four years, after Tom Brady was featured in Madden NFL 18. Before Brady, the last QB on the cover was Drew Brees on Madden NFL 11.
Jackson, 23, led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and broke the league record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,206 yards in 2019.
EA Sports has yet to officially announce Jackson as the cover athlete. Last year, the news was announced on April 25.
–Field Level Media
