Every year, Madden football fans wait to see who the next cover athlete will be for the newest edition of the game. It’s perceived as a high honor to be selected for it.
On June 11, it was announced that San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey would be the cover athlete for the newest installment of the franchise. The 2023 season was one to remember for the former Carolina Panthers back. He rushed for a league-best 1,459 yards. But, the area that he really shined in was as a receiving back. McCaffrey totaled 67 receptions during the regular season.
Between rushing and receiving, he totaled 21 touchdowns, tied with Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert for the most in the NFL. The cherry on top for McCaffrey was being named the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year.
The playoffs are where McCaffrey showed just how dominant he is. In three games, McCaffrey rushed for 268 yards while also tallying 19 receptions for 152 yards. Add in the fact that he had five total touchdowns, and you get the guy that was the face of the 2024 NFL playoffs.
McCaffrey had long been considered among the best running backs in the NFL, but now he is far and away the best player at the position in the league.
It may come as a surprise to some that McCaffrey was chosen as the cover athlete, given that the quarterback position has dominated the Madden covers as of late.
In fact, this is the first edition to feature a non-quarterback player since Antonio Brown received the honor for Madden 19. It seemed that year after year, fans would just wait to see which quarterback would be chosen. This year, there was wide speculation that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow would be chosen.
Running backs were a staple of early editions of the game, garnering three of the first eight cover athletes. However, the times have changed. Since the release of Madden 12, there have only been two running backs given the honor. Adrian Peterson and now Christian McCaffrey.
McCaffrey being chosen is somewhat groundbreaking, in that he may be the last running back that we see grace the cover of the franchise. It is common belief that the position would soon become an afterthought, but it was great to get one last cover out of the coveted position.
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