EA Sports has teamed up with ESPN and created a bracket style tournament in which a player from every NFL team is represented and seeded. You, as fans, then get the chance to vote on each head-to-head matchup to determine who will move on to the next round. Madden is turning to the fans of all 32 NFL teams to determine the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL 2012.
Each Monday at 4PM EST, the crew at Sports Nation will update viewers on the contest, revealing the remaining candidate match-ups as we move from a field of 32 to the final pairing on April 18. Voting for Round 1 is open now until March 27th. After the winners are announced for Round 1, Round 2 match-ups will be set and voters have until April 3rd to select their advancements. Round 3 begins April 11th and the semifinals end April 17th, leaving us with 2 final players who will battle each other for the infamous EA Sports Madden Cover. The winner of that final vote for the Madden NFL 12 cover won’t be revealed to the public until April 27.
Now that you know what to do, let’s take a look at the bracket and some of the potential story lines.
In a 64-team college basketball tournament they say the #1 and #2 seeds are always the safest bets. In the Madden Cover bracket Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Hines Ward hold down the 1s and 2s. Their team’s rabid fan bases expect them to gobble up a good amount of votes. The first round matchups are all between division rivals so don’t be surprised when fans try to avenge disappointing 2010 seasons via this vote.
The most notified underdogs are Jordan Gross, Jake Long or Steve Johnson representing the Panthers, Dolphins and Bills respectively. Linemen don’t get the pub like the touchdown scoring or hard-hitting positions on a football team, but as John Madden likes to say they are the biggest guys on the field. They must have threatened somebody around here to qualify for this tournament.
For upset specials keep an eye on Tim Tebow over Jamaal Charles in the 11 vs. 6 matchup and the 10 vs. 7 matchup between Seattle’s 12th man and San Francisco’s Patrick Willis. The orange aura of Tebow still covers the SEC region and now includes the Rocky Mountain West. That’s a challenge for any candidate in any national race. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are stretching the rules by having their most rabid fans representing the team. They’ll be voting for themselves to be on the cover.
Many will ask, can Aaron Rodgers magical playoff run propel him to another championship belt and the Madden NFL Cover?
Or can Michael Vick win back his fan base and recreate his career? Or will the winning player be blessed with the Madden Cover Curse? Will the Madden Curse effect your voting? These are question we will wait have to wait to see. But in the mean time, go help you favorite player and vote at ESPN.com.
