If there is a Madden curse, maybe it’s already hit the New England Patriots with Tom Brady’s DeflateGate suspension reinstatement. Pats fans better hope that’s all it is because Thursday EA Sports announced that Rob Gronkowski will grace the cover of the 2017 edition of the Madden NFL Football video game.
GRONK. SPIKE.
Introducing the cover of #Madden17! pic.twitter.com/iCZUwIAuYO
— Madden NFL 20 (@EAMaddenNFL) May 12, 2016
Gronk is the best tight end in the NFL and one of the best offensive weapons, period. He’s the best non-Brady player the Patriots have ever had. His last two seasons have been his best. In 2015 Gronk caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“My rookie year (in 2010), it was just an honor to be in the game,” Gronkowski told ESPN. “Just using yourself as a player, throwing yourself the ball every single time you can at home. Just playing the game. Not it’s a dream come true, going into my seventh season and being on the cover. When I found out, I was blessed. It was a surreal moment.”
Now that Rob Gronkowski is on the cover of Madden '17, here's a preview of what he'll look like in 6 months: pic.twitter.com/im0UtI0FEX
— NOTSportsCenter (@NOTSportsCenter) May 12, 2016
The announcement all but came out of nowhere. Over the last few seasons EA has held fan voting to pick the athlete for the cover. Last year New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. got the nod, which was fine. A few years back fan voting backfired and we all had to look at former Cleveland Browns bust running back Peyton Hillis on the cover.
Gronk is the first tight end to ever make the cover. So far, since they started putting players on the cover in 2001, six quarterbacks have been selected (Duante Culpepper, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Vince Young, Brett Favre and Drew Brees), five running backs have been selected (Eddie George, Marshall Faulk, Shaun Alexander, Hillis and Barry Sanders), three wideouts (Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson and Beckham), two defensive backs (Troy Polamalu and Richard Sherman) and one linebacker (Ray Lewis).
A honor to be on the cover! I’M THE NEW #MADDEN17 COVER ATHLETE!!! Thanks @easportsinsider! #GRONKCOVER pic.twitter.com/z5M3IqxYmt
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) May 12, 2016
The Madden video games are bestsellers every single year. Last year’s Madden 16 was the No. 2 selling video game in the United States, behind only Call of Duty Black Ops III. It outsold both Star Wars Battlefornt and Grand Theft Auto V.
Gronk could have gotten the cover last year. He finished second to Beckham in the fan voting.
“I’ve been close to being on the cover of Madden,” Gronk said. “…When I found out that I was truly going to be on the cover, it was a great feeling. I really didn’t celebrate it. … It was a feel-good moment, for sure, to know that you’re going to be on the cover of Madden in the category of so many elite players out there that have been on it before.”
Madden 17 will hit stores on Aug. 23 with millions of people calling in sick to work that day and the next.
Notebook:
…Drew Rosenhaus as sent letters to all 32 NFL teams informing them that his client, former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy has entered therapy as a way to “address and improve his behavior.” Hardy has already been involved in counselling for anger management, temper management, domestic violence and ADHD.
Hardy is currently a free agent and made some bad news for himself back in April when, in an interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he denied ever “putting (his) hand on any woman.”
Which is, of course, a lie. Hardy was found guilty in his first trial of piledriving his girlfriend into a log-cabin stack of AR-15s, but won on his appeal because his ex girlfriend stopped cooperating with the prosecution.
…Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricard Lockett has announced his retirement Thursday. Ricardo suffered a concussion in a Week Eight game against the Dallas Cowboys.
“It’s kind of tough,” Lockett said at his retirement press conference. “People say, ‘Hey dyd, are you sad this happened to you and that the guy hit you and blah, blah, blah? No, because I’m a dog. And you live by the sword and you die by the sword. So I can’t complain about that.”
And that is keeping it real, son.
