Hey everyone, it’s your boy back again with another one of my little experiments. Today, I’m diving into something that’s been on my mind for a while: getting Steve McNair on the Madden cover. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Isn’t that impossible?” Well, yeah, kind of. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?
So, first things first, I started by doing some digging. I needed to figure out how Madden even picks their cover athletes. Turns out, it’s a mix of popularity, performance, and probably some backroom deals we don’t even know about. Anyway, I found out that only twice have multiple players been on the cover, once with Polamalu and Fitzgerald and another time with Mahomes and Brady. Then, there are folks like Ray Lewis and Tom Brady who won the Super Bowl and got the cover. They say that the game received mixed reviews.
Next, I needed to see if there was any precedent for a player like McNair getting on the cover. I mean, the guy was a legend, but he’s not exactly a household name like some of these other guys. It seems like EA Sports, the company behind Madden, is all about who’s hot right now. Like this year, they announced Christian McCaffrey from the 49ers is going to be on the cover of Madden NFL 25. And just this week, they said they’re revealing the next NFL star for the cover. Some fans think they figured it out already, though.
But hey, I’m not one to give up easily. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I started messing around with some photo editing software. Nothing fancy, just enough to slap McNair’s face onto an existing Madden cover. It looked pretty rough, but it was a start.
Then, I thought, “Why not make this a community thing?” So, I posted my shoddy edit online and asked people to help me make a better one. And you know what? People actually responded! I got a bunch of submissions, some way better than what I could ever do. It was awesome to see the community come together like that.
Here’s what I did step-by-step:
- Researched how Madden cover athletes are chosen.
- Compared McNair’s popularity and career to past cover athletes.
- Experimented with basic photo editing to create a mock-up.
- Engaged the online community to help refine the design.
In the end, did I get Steve McNair on the official Madden cover? Nope. But did I have fun trying? Absolutely. And I learned a lot about the process and the power of community. Plus, I got to pay tribute to a player I really admired. So, all in all, I’d say it was a win.
