Lamar Jackson On Madden 21 Cover, Hopes To Avoid ‘Curse’ Like Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady

Lamar Jackson announced Tuesday afternoon that he will be on the cover of Madden NFL 21. The Baltimore Ravens quarterback won last season’s NFL MVP award unanimously.

Jackson was an easy choice to be the face of the video game, coming off a historic year in just his second NFL season. The 23-year-old threw for 3,217 yards and a league-high 36 touchdown passes to go along with six interceptions and a 113.3 passer rating. Jackson added seven scores on the ground, setting a record for quarterbacks with 1,206 rushing yards.

The Ravens went 13-2 with Jackson under center in the regular season. After posting the NFL’s best record, Baltimore was upset in the divisional round of the playoffs by the Tennessee Titans.

Jackson struggled in the 28-12 loss to Tennessee, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. If the “Madden Curse” is real, that could be a preview of what’s to come in the 2020 NFL season.

Of course, there is plenty of evidence to prove that being on the cover of Madden has no correlation to a player’s performance. Patrick Mahomes was put on the cover of Madden NFL 20 before the start of last season. The quarterback led the Kansas City Chiefs to a championship and won the Super Bowl MVP award.

“I’m not worried about a curse,” Jackson told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. “Patrick Mahomes is on the front and he won [Super Bowl] MVP. So I want that curse. I hope that’s a curse.”

Perhaps the cover athlete from two years ago would argue that there’s some merit to the curse. Antonio Brown was the face of Madden NFL 19. Brown was benched by Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in the final game of that season, and he’s only played in one NFL game since because of a litany of off-the-field issues.

Tom Brady was on the cover of Madden NFL 18. The quarterback won the NFL MVP award that season, throwing for 4,577 yards, 32 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 102.8 passer rating. Brady and the New England Patriots were defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.

Rob Gronkowski only played eight games because of injuries when he was on the Madden NFL 17 cover. Odell Beckham Jr. was a second-team All-Pro selection as the Madden NFL 16 cover athlete.