Ranking the Most Surprising ‘Madden’ Covers in History As Caleb Williams Joins Exclusive Group

Caleb Williams now owns a slice of football immortality.

Entering his third NFL season, the Bears quarterback was chosen by EA Sports as the cover athlete for the Madden NFL ’27 game, which will be released in full Aug. 13.

Over the game’s history that dates back to the 1990s, there hasn’t been any sort of consistent criteria in choosing the player (or, in some editions, players) to don its cover. John Madden himself graced the cover of each game in the 1990s until Eddie George became the first player to earn the title of cover athlete in the 2001 edition. (A fun piece of trivia: 49ers running back Garrison Hearst was featured on the international release in 1999, but it became an annual tradition after George’s cover debut.)

Most years, the reigning MVP or any other award winner earns the right to be on the Madden cover. But there have been a few unexpected choices, as well. Here’s a look at the four most surprising choices to be featured on the cover of Madden:

4. Caleb Williams—Madden ’27

Season stats before cover (2025): 3,942 yards, 27 TD, 12 INT, 90.1 passer rating
Season stats after cover (2026): TBD

Williams is the 11th quarterback in history to grace the cover of Madden. Of those 11, Williams is the only quarterback to never be selected to a Pro Bowl. In fact, he’s only the second player in Madden history to not have a Pro Bowl appearance on his résumé.

Williams entered the 2025 season with plenty of doubts surrounding him that he could be The Guy in Chicago after a shaky rookie year. But he fired back at the critics by leading the Bears to their first playoff appearance since 2020 and first playoff win since ’10. It’s easy to see the reason why EA Sports chose him as the cover player—he’s extremely marketable and incredibly entertaining to watch. But the choice is a bit surprising when you factor in the other deserving players that have yet to be featured on the cover, like Matthew Stafford or Myles Garrett, who is coming off a record-breaking 2025 campaign.

3. Brett Favre—Madden ’09

Season stats before cover (2007): 4,155 yards, 28 TD, 15 INT, 95.7 passer rating
Season stats after cover (2008): 3,472 yards, 22 TD, 22 INT, 81.0 passer rating

EA Sports chose Favre as the Madden ’09 cover shortly after he announced his retirement following 16 seasons with the Packers. Spoiler alert: That is not where his story would end. While the cover featured Favre in a Packers uniform, EA Sports had to roll out downloadable cover art featuring Favre in a Jets jersey when the quarterback announced he was coming out of retirement and was traded to New York.

Favre’s ensuing season didn’t do much to change the minds of Madden curse believers, as he threw 22 interceptions for a 9-7 Jets team.

2. Vince Young—Madden ’08

Season stats before cover (2006): 2,199 yards, 12 TD, 13 INT, 66.7 passer rating
Season stats after cover (2007): 2,546 yards, 9 TD, 17 INT, 71.1 passer rating

When Madden ’08 was released in the summer of 2007, Young was still one of the biggest names in the game of football, just two years removed from winning the national championship at Texas. Young was O.K. at best for the Titans as a rookie, throwing more interceptions (13) than touchdowns (12) in 15 games, but he did become the first rookie quarterback to be voted into the Pro Bowl.

EA Sports chose Young for the cover after Ladanian Tomlinson, who set the NFL single-season record with 31 touchdowns in 2006, declined their offer.

1. Peyton Hillis—Madden ’12

Season stats before cover (2010): 270 carries, 1,177 yards, 11 TD
Season stats after cover (2011): 161 carries, 587 yards, 3 TD

Undoubtedly the most infamous Madden cover athlete of all time, Hillis was selected to represent the ’12 edition via an online fan vote. Hillis was a No. 10 seed in a 32-player bracket that featured two 16-player regions with Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers as the pair of No. 1 seeds. On his way to the cover, Hillis advanced by receiving more votes in 1-on-1 matchups against Ray Rice, Matt Ryan, Jamaal Charles, Rodgers and Michael Vick.

Hillis, who was coming off a 2010 season with 1,654 total yards, never gained more than 717 yards in a single season again and was out of the league by 2015.

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