Madden NFL Cover Curse - Calvin Johnson (2013)
Calvin Johnson was voted by fans to be on the next Madden cover in 2012. Courtesy

The most popular sports video game is celebrating its 25th edition in 2013.

Madden 25, or Madden 14 as it would have been named in a normal year, is set to be released on Aug. 27. Like EA Sports has done for the past two years, the company is leaving the cover of the game up to the fans.

Unlike in previous years, however, NFL Hall of Famers are eligible to be on the cover. Fans can choose between 32 current players, and 32 ex-players for the honor to grace the front of the game.

The voting is set up like the NCAA Tournament, comprised of a bracket with teams seeded one through 16. There is an “Old School” and a “New School” bracket. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III make up the four No.1 seeds.

Voting for the first round began on Monday and is set to end on March 20. Each following round will last for a week, with the finals set for the week of April 17-24.

The online betting Web Site Bovada has established betting odds for who is likely to win the vote. Montana is not surprisingly the favorite at 8/1, but he is tied with Barry Sanders, who three-seed. Dan Marino and Rice come in at 9/1. Trent Richardson, Chad Johnson and Michael Strahan have the worst odds of any players listed. The field is set at 25/1.

The Detroit Lions' Calvin Johnson won the fan vote last year. Cleveland Broncos running back Peyton Hill was on the cover in 2011. Johnson was unaffected by the "Madden Curse," leading the NFL in receiving yards.

Click here to place your vote on who should be on the cover of the video game.