Madden 22: Who will join Tom Brady as the cover athlete?

The Madden 22 cover athlete will be revealed on Thursday, June 17 and teases suggest Tom Brady will be one of two players. Who is the other?

It’s Madden season once again, namely the time of year when we get to see who the cover athlete for the latest EA Sports NFL game is going to be. Curses aside, it’s one of the most recognized accomplishments for NFL players, being at the forefront of the league so much so that they are the primary focus of one of the world’s most popular video games.

We now know that the cover athlete (or athletes) for Madden 22 will be revealed on Thursday, June 17. But in giving us that information, EA Sports also dropped what appears to be a hint.

In a trailer featuring one of the most infamous cover athletes in history, Peyton Hillis, there is a teaser of two goats walking out of a barn with Hillis saying, “They did it again”:

https://twitter.com/EAMaddenNFL/status/1404438481460289543

The perceived implication of this tease for the next cover athlete is that A. there will be two players featured and B. they will be GOATs (Greatest of All Time). Given that Tom Brady is coming off of winning a Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers, it stands to reason that he’s one (he was also on the Madden 18 cover). But who is the other going to be?

By my best estimation, there are three possible options for players who have been Madden cover athletes — playing into the “did it again” line — and who have relative GOAT status.

3 Possible Madden 22 cover athletes to go with Tom Brady

3. Drew Brees – Brees had his swan song with the New Orleans Saints this past season, falling short of winning another Super Bowl and then venturing into retirement where he will take up a broadcasting role. But could EA Sports be looking to pay homage to the future Hall-of-Famer by putting him on the cover with Brady?

Brees graced the Madden 11 cover over a decade ago, so he fits that criteria for being a previous cover athlete. Moreover, while he will always be looked at as a notch below Brady, he’s one of the greatest and most productive quarterbacks in NFL history. That gives him a piece of the GOAT conversation, which makes him a possible option.

2. Rob Gronkowski – This would be an interesting wrinkle to the conversation. If EA Sports wanted a GOAT at another position other than quarterback, putting Gronk with Brady as a pair of reigning Super Bowl champions on the cover would make a lot of sense.

Gronkowski was on the Madden 17 cover one year prior to his quarterback earning the same distinction. The only drawback for this year’s game, though, is that Gronk is not nearly the player he once was, even if he did show out with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. Even still, it would be cool to have a historic QB-TE duo on the cover together — even if it makes Patriots fans sick to see them in Bucs uniforms.

1. Patrick Mahomes – Some people would likely be unhappy with Mahomes joining the cover with Brady for a number of reasons. First, for as good as the Chiefs quarterback is, he’s still extremely young to be already put in the GOAT conversation. More than that, Mahomes was on the cover even more recently than Brady, donning that honor just two years ago.

While that may be so, the NFL and EA Sports have leaned heavily into Mahomes and, seeing that he matched up against Brady in the Super Bowl last year, it would make sense to have the possible future GOAT and the obvious GOAT together on the cover. At the very least, there could be some fun content that emerges from that.