Baltimore Ravens’ QB and 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is officially the cover athlete for Madden 21. Electronic Arts shared the news today through a press release, revealing three different covers for the perennial football game — one for the standard edition, one for the deluxe edition, and one for the MVP edition.
The covers are somewhat of a departure from previous years. Whereas many Madden covers feature athletes on solid backgrounds (Madden 20 and Madden 19) or generic football backgrounds (Madden 18 and Madden 17) striking different poses for different editions, the covers for this year’s game feature unique photos from Jackson’s young yet already-explosive NFL career.
Of being on the cover, Jackson said:
I grew up playing Madden and owned every copy I could get my hands on, so to be on the cover of Madden NFL 21 is a dream come true, especially when the cover represents so much of my story. The welcome to the Madden family from around the league and from fans has been phenomenal and I think people will have a lot of fun with the new features coming in this year’s game.
EA also released a 1:43-second featurette on Jackson, highlighting the QB’s rise from high school to the pros.
We’ve known that Lamar Jackson would be this year’s cover athlete since he dropped the news on a conference call back in April. He was also our top choice for the Madden 21 cover.
Though the Ravens lost to the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round of the 2019 playoffs, Jackson led his squad to a 10-7 overall record. Amassing 3,127 pass yards (36 passing TDs/6 INTs) and 1,206 rushing yards (7 rushing TDs), Jackson was one of the top quarterbacks in the league last year, alongside Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson.
EA released more information about Madden 21 ahead of Thursday’s EA Play Live showcase, including new gameplay improvements and pre-order information. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more on Madden 21, which is set to release on August 28 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, as well as Google Stadia, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X this winter.
