Caleb Williams Named Madden Cover Athlete, Earns Topps NOW Card
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If one player was to be selected who helped solidify their place in the Football Hobby this past NFL season, Caleb Williams has an argument to be on that list. Williams led the Chicago Bears into the playoffs, giving the team hope and expectations heading into the 2026 season. In addition, his in-game heroics captivated both audiences and the hobby.
Williams was recently named the cover athlete for the Madden 27 video game, and a limited-time Topps NOW card was released to celebrate the occasion.
Here is what collectors need to know about the limited edition card.
Caleb Williams Madden Cover Gets the Topps Now Treatment
The card itself is currently up for grabs on the Topps website, and will be until Saturday, June 6th at 4:30 PM EST. Like many other Topps NOW releases, the card is printed to order. This means that Topps will print as many cards as needed to fulfill the demand shown by collectors. The card retails for $8.99, but a discount can be given if more than one card is ordered. On the website, quantities of 1, 5, 10, and 20 are offered.
The card itself uses this year's Topps NOW design and features the player information at the bottom, along with the accomplishment. The image shows Williams jumping into the air, ready to throw a pass. Above him is the Madden 27 logo, and beneath him looks to be the skyline of Chicago. He said he wanted to emulate the Michael Jordan-inspired Jumpman for the photo.
The deluxe edition cover gets The Iceman treatment.
Collectors Can Search For Rare Parallels of the Card
While some collectors may just want one copy of the card for collecting purposes, others may want to try to obtain rare parallels. Again, similar to other Topps NOW releases, parallels will be randomly inserted into orders placed by collectors. The parallels that collectors can find include: Gold Foil (/50), Orange Foil (/25), Black Foil (/10), Red Foil (/5), and FoilFractor (/1). A preview image was not shared of what these cards look like, so a prior Topps NOW Basketball card is pictured below to show what the foil parallels resemble.
Depending on the print run, Chrome Parallels of Williams' card will also be printed. The threshold to get over is 50,000, which is when Chrome Parallels numbered out of 99 and out of 50 will be printed. If the numbered order reaches 100,000 cards, then Chrome Parallels all the way to a 1/1 will be randomly inserted into collectors' orders.
Caleb Williams earned the right to be on the cover of the next Madden video game. The release of a Topps NOW card commemorating the feat is the latest instance of hobby and entertainment overlapping. It is also the continuation of the NFL Topps NOW. Collectors have until June 6th to obtain the limited edition card from the Topps website.
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Dylan is a collector based in Central Pennsylvania, and sports fan rooting for the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Pirates, and LA Lakers. He is currently attempting to collect a complete run of Topps flagship sets across football, baseball, and basketball. He is passionate about the history of the hobby including its continual growth and evolution.