CINCINNATI — Who will be on the cover of Madden 25? Fans on the internet speculate it might be Cincinnati's own Joe Burrow gracing the front of the video game after EA released a teaser for its cover reveal Friday morning.
Just 11 seconds long, the teaser features a mysterious voice saying, "EA Sports, it's in the game." EA's white logo appears on the bottom of the screen before turning orange. Then, the date of the cover reveal — June 11 — appears in white before flashing orange.
Fans online have linked that mysterious voice to Burrow, a known gamer and one of the league's most popular players.
The Stage is Set.
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 7, 2024
Cover Reveal | 6.11.24#Madden25 pic.twitter.com/kthhXOAfaz
"Sounds like Burrow," one person responded to Madden's Instagram post.
"It's 100% Joe Shiesty," another said.
Aside from the 2023 cover, which featured John Madden himself, the Madden cover star has been a quarterback since 2020. Last year's cover featured Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.
Still, some fans believe the voice sounds like reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey, who had a better 2023 season than Burrow, who was injured for much of last year.
"How y'all not recognize that voice? It's CMC," one fan said on X (formerly Twitter).
There has also been speculation that Chiefs TE Travis Kelce would grace the cover after his romance with superstar Taylor Swift took the country (and NFL broadcasts) by storm.
Still, neither Kelce nor McCaffrey's teams feature the orange color shown in the teaser video.
If Burrow is the cover star, you can bet Bengals fans will be stressed about the Madden curse. While EA denies any so-called curse, the history books tell us a decent amount of cover stars dating back to 2000 have dealt with major injuries or a decline in production after becoming the face of the game.
The good news? Madden's most recent cover stars (Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen) don't appear to have been hit by the curse.
