It was Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen who received the honor of appearing on the cover of the famous video game Madden for his 2024 work.
Electronic Arts, which has been producing the game since 1988, made the announcement on Wednesday.
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Allen is the first Bills representative to receive this honor since the players appeared on the game’s cover in 1994.
This year, the 27-year-old Pivot will play his sixth season in the NFL. He was selected in the first round (seventh overall) by the Buffalo Club in the 2018 draft. Since then he has changed the image of the franchise. The latter has been one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl for several years.
Allen has thrown for at least 4,200 yards and 35 touchdowns in his last three Goodell seasons.
For the video game’s 2023 edition, the face of former manager and professional football commentator John Madden was back on the cover. It was a tribute to his career, who passed away in December 2021.
However, some Bills fans have to worry that their favorite quarterback is headlining the game, and that’s because of the infamous “Madden Curse.”
The curse began in 1999 when Garrison Hearst of the San Francisco 49ers appeared on the cover. The footballer suffered a fractured ankle right after the game’s release and missed two seasons due to the injury. Since then, several players who made it into cover have had issues such as illness, injury or involvement in an offense.
However, the Madden Curse seems to have faded in recent years. In 2022, quarterbacks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes shared the spotlight and both had very strong seasons. This was also the case with Lamar Jackson (2021), Odell Beckham Jr. (2016) and Calvin Johnson (2013).
Madden 24 is expected to be available to fans in August.