Rob Gronkowski has been named the cover athlete for "Madden NFL 17." He'll be the first tight end to appear on the cover of the iconic football video game series.
The Patriots' seemingly unstoppable force caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Despite being limited for a period of time due to injury, he appeared in all but one game and was one of Tom Brady's few reliable receiving threats. He accounted for 227 yards on 15 receptions with three touchdowns in the Patriots' two playoff games.
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This is the first time since 2009 that the cover was selected by publisher EA Sports rather than put to a fan vote. Diminishing returns and social fatigue probably played a role in going away from that, at least for this year, but the company was also able to settle on a player it determined would represent its product the best and may not have been able to get him through a fan-vote competition.
Gronkowski has been injury-prone and may not be perceived as the ideal personality to represent a family-friendly franchise, which made him a surprise entrant in past competitions for the cover. Last year he was runner-up to Odell Beckham Jr. in the fan vote. EA Sports is comfortable with him, however; he starred in the "Madden NFL 16" movie-like trailer, and certainly the company will look to leverage his ability to stay in the spotlight and his willingness to heavily promote the product.
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Of course talk of the "Madden Curse" could already take place given the reinstatement of Tom Brady's four game suspension. Gronkowski will likely have Jimmy Garoppolo throwing to him instead for the first quarter of the season.
Madden NFL 17 highlight footage of cover athlete Rob Gronkowski pic.twitter.com/iYr4ViTfT8
— Bryan Wiedey (@pastapadre) May 12, 2016
"Madden NFL 17" will release Aug. 23 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. New features include a renewed focus on Franchise mode, ballcarrier feedback cues, defender fake-out mechanics, and an innovative authentic defensive AI system. Subscribers to the EA Access service on Xbox One will get 10 hours with the game beginning Aug. 17. The game is now available for pre-order on Amazon where Prime members get it for 20% off.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com , has co-founded the site HitThePass.com , hosts the Press Row Podcast , and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre .