The Madden video game series has decided to put Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the cover of its 2020 edition.
The Kansas City Chiefs can only hope there’s really nothing of substance to that whole Madden Curse thing. That’s because star quarterback Patrick Mahomes (and the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player) has been chosen as the cover athlete for Madden ’20, the popular NFL video game series.
Mahomes is a natural choice as one of the biggest and brightest young stars of the game today.
Breaking: NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes will be this year's Madden cover athlete. pic.twitter.com/G3Sd6e0EV8
— ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2019
The Chiefs quarterback has earned new endorsements left and right, and he’s every bit as personable off the field as he is dominant upon it. Last season for the Chiefs, he put up 50 touchdowns and over 5,000 passing yards to join Tom Brady as the only member of that club in NFL history. He won the league’s MVP award and brought the Chiefs within an overtime coin toss of upsetting the Patriots and going to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs enter the 2019 season as one of the teams most favored to win the Lombardi Trophy and that’s largely due to the presence of Mahomes, especially for a contender undergoing such a remarkable transition on defense.
Unfortunately for Mahomes, the Madden cover isn’t simply another endorsement — a la appearing on a cereal box. The Madden Curse has become a real concern for superstitious fans. Past cover athletes like Adrian Peterson and Rob Gronkowski have gone on to suffer significant injuries after being featured by the game. Even last year was Antonio Brown, who has endured a very dramatic year as he’s switched teams from Pittsburgh to Oakland. Then again, he’s brought all such drama on himself.
For now, Mahomes is likely shrugging off any concerns of a video game curse and enjoying the spoils of the notoriety that comes with being the face of not only the Chiefs but the NFL as well.