For the first time in a while, it looked like the Madden curse took a year off last year, when Odell Beckham Jr. graced the cover of Madden ’16; Madden of course being arguably EA Sports’ most influential franchise. It’s next cover star, freakishly athletic Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, will be looking for a repeat of that.
Gronkowski had another monster season after struggling with injury for a good portion of last year. The tight end caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns, and was an immovable member of the Pats offense last year, which once again guided them to an AFC Championship Game berth.
Hopefully for the Pats, Gronkowski, like ODB Jr., can avoid the aforementioned Madden curse and elevate his game. The season Beckham Jr. covered the video game saw him catch 96 passes for 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns. Yeah, you read those numbers correctly.
Here’s the debut of the cover.
Madden 17 Cover pic.twitter.com/tdF8x3CEbS
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 12, 2016
