A New Madden 2010 Cover Candidate Emerges
by 
A couple weeks ago I listed out who I believed to be at the time the top five candidates for the Madden 2010 cover. The voting slanted heavily towards Redskins RB Clinton Portis with Saints QB Drew Brees as the runner-up.
One name that has vaulted himself into contention over the past few weeks that I did not have in that group is Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin. Having seen him in person on Sunday only impressed me more. What makes his recent performances even more remarkable is that they come after showing the incredible toughness of returning only three weeks after the injury that resulted in him having to get eight plates inserted into his face and wiring in his jaw.
The Cardinals are using him all over the field including in the Wildcat formation made popular by the Dolphins this year. He is averaging nearly eight receptions 100 yards and a TD a game. The Cardinals have all but clinched the NFC West.
The only concern over Boldin is that he still desires a trade in the off-season and EA would generally hesitate to put someone on the cover who may end up in a different uniform.
The Madden series has never had a wide receiver on the cover. This may be the year if Boldin continues to perform on this level. In the poll below I’d like to hear which WR, that could arguably be considered as the most likely possibilities for the cover, would you choose to receive the honor if the decision was made today?
November 18, 2008 at 8:27 am
im not sure even if theyll go with a reciever. madden is crazy tho. that vince young cover isnt working out to well.
February 28, 2009 at 6:17 pm
I dont even think a reciever should go on the cover it should be lke an Adrian Peterson or a CLinton Portis, last year they made the mistake of puttingg Brett Favre on the cover, but with all do respect i agree if there was a reciever it should be boldin.
November 18, 2008 at 8:28 am
I think Boldin would be a great pick for the cover. Him or Andre Johnson if they go WR.
November 18, 2008 at 8:40 am
if UR not 3rd UR LAST
dey should put da MAN T.O. on da COVA
September 15, 2009 at 4:58 am
BET-DAT
November 18, 2008 at 8:51 am
I think Boldin, or Andre Johnson would be a great pick. Don’t sleep on Roddy White though, he is a beast.
November 18, 2008 at 9:08 am
Tiburon’s got a lot bigger problems to address than who to put on the cover.
To answer the question, though, I’d say that Hines Ward is a lot more deserving than some of the clowns pasta mentioned (Roddy White…I mean, c’mon).
November 18, 2008 at 10:34 am
Pasta, I live in Phoenix & I would love for Bolden to get the cover but if you’ve been following the Cardinals, Boldin is not happy with the Cardinals & his contract situation. If he were to get the cover, we could possibly have another Brett Favre situation where Boldin is playing for another team. The Cardinals have a history of being a cheap franchise & the talk out here is that they won’t be able to afford to keep Boldin & Fitzgerald. They just gave Fitzgerald a huge contract extention in the offseason. He’s making like 14 million a year. We’ll see though.
November 18, 2008 at 10:37 am
Boldin wont be on the cover…he’ll be on a new team next year.
They’re going to give it to a Cowboy since they’re America’s team. It’ll be either Tony Romo, Barber, or Ware.
November 18, 2008 at 10:38 am
I voted for Andre ….
November 18, 2008 at 11:14 am
hey pasta,
Here is some news for you to post. Madden 09 sales have been so poor this year that Toys R Us has reduced the price of the 360 version to $19.99 (not a sale price, this is what they dropped it to)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3161983
If 2010 is anything like 2009 they should put a steaming pile of manure on the cover.
November 18, 2008 at 12:19 pm
wow
November 18, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Why is Bowe even on that list? His team won what? One game? Seriously, he isn’t even leading his team in receptions (tied at 55 with Tony G).
Lol isn’t it bad enough that he has 666 recieving yards? You really want to curse him twice?
Why not put Greg Jennings on the list? Or Marshall? Someone who deserves it.
November 18, 2008 at 12:34 pm
ilikepie wrote:
Glad you posted this…though you and I both know Pasta will never mention Madden’s poor sales in an article. Since he won’t, I’ll point out that there was no Madden in the top 20 for October, and only 1 placed in September (the 360 version), and it placed 19th.
The biggest sport in America, and this is what we’re stuck with. How sad.
November 18, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Calvin Johnson, Billy Mcmullen, or Hank Baskett.
November 18, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Pasta won’t mention Maddens horrible sales nor respond to those of us who wonder what happened to the NBA 2K9 Impressions that he was gonna write up.
Looks like ilikepie has more credibility than Pasta.ilikepie wrote:
November 18, 2008 at 1:28 pm
No doubt.
The #1 sport in the United States by far. Most popular by far.
Sunday afternoons is a place will you will find millions of people watching the NFL.
Yet, we are stuck with the crap that is Madden. Don’t work on gameplay EA, work on your Rewind feature, and your stupid My Madden settings. Oh, and while you are at it, take out CPU sliders and don’t add ref’s.
Pathetic.
November 18, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I think I speak for a lot of sports gamers when I wish EA would care less about its cover athlete and the music in the game and more about the game play/presentation.
I am enjoying Madden 2009 and I think it’s a great deal for $20. If the game is good they could put a CFLer on the cover for all I care. I’m sure it’s a great honour for the player involved but I don’t think anyone has ever thought, “Wow, if Brett Farve is on the cover this year I have to Madden this year”
I’d be curious to know if EA Sports felt that putting that relatively unknown Boise State QB on its cover of NCAA Football had any impact either negatively or positively on sales.
November 18, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Instead they should put Brandon Jacobs or Eli on the cover if they win back to back championchips
November 18, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Pasta,
You’re killin me smallz. What happened to the Pasta I grew accustomed to last year that had cool videos and insightful feedback on the games I was intrested in at the time. I don’t care who the hell is on the cover next year. I want to see video of the games that you have played. I really enjoyed last years Campus Legend and Superstar where we followed your player. Now, I am starting to never check in but once a week, because, your material is boring to me. I wish for more of “this is how I played it” type articles, because this poo is starting to stink too bad for me to inquire in on at all.
November 18, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I swear ever sports game its always the people the come on line that always have problems with it or swear it horriable, while 90% of the people that dont take game serious still enjoy it , even on the nba 2k9 boards on 2ksports.com you got people swearing the game horrilbe, I actually like madden and nba 2k9 i guess I dont take videogames serious enough to find why i shouldnt like it.
November 18, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Roddy White is deserving for his breakout past 2 seasons but i doubt they would put a falcon on the cover 2 times in 5 years… Greg Jennings would be great, but they had a Packer on this years cover (sorta)… Anquon wont be with the Cards much longer, so scratch him off the list… I could see Fitzgerald though.
November 18, 2008 at 3:11 pm
me wrote:
yeah I remeber when he use to do that to, the fanboy wars and the e thugs are some of the reasons are dont like coming here are times its still a good site.
November 18, 2008 at 3:16 pm
@ me:
Thanks for the feedback. I enjoy doing those type of things, with this year’s titles there hasn’t been much excitement around those type of features (Superstar and Campus Legend weren’t improved). I did attempt to keep up with my online dynasty and I’ll probably have another update coming in the near future since we’re hitting bowl season soon in the second season. I’m hoping Front Office Manager can be a part of that, especially with the online fantasy leagues those could be interesting to follow along with. Then we’ll get Road to the Show which I’m also hopeful will be better this year.
November 18, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Andre Johson. Leads the NFL in all the main WR statistics. (he did before Sunday’s games but I haven’t checked since)
November 18, 2008 at 3:48 pm
It should be Hines Ward. Instead of gettin’ his face broken, he’s out there breakin’ jaws with a smile. He’s a linebacker playing receiver. Defenses fear him. There’s even a bounty out on him. That’s my definition of “a beast”
November 18, 2008 at 4:59 pm
my dick should be on the cover of madden2010, and shaq’s dick on NBA live 2010. Now that would. E awesome!
November 18, 2008 at 10:12 pm
how does larry fitzgerald not make the top five of your lists…he is a freak…and has a near perfect image…the dude is young…and his best years are ahead of him…if the cards resign boldin…it should be a three man cover (there is a precedent with 3 players on the FIFA game this year)…and it should be boldin, fitzgerald, and warner…and here is the tie-in to the game…BRINGING EXCITEMENT BACK TO THE FRANCHISE…for the first time in a long time the cards are in a playoff hunt…and these three have been oustanding (warner deserves the MVP)…meanwhhile EA is looking to rebuild franchise mode this year by bringing over NFL Head Coach developers…dude, it could happen…
November 18, 2008 at 10:25 pm
@ Seahawksfan617:
Dude… really…
November 19, 2008 at 2:40 am
DONT CURSE THE QUAN. CURSE THE G-MEN!
November 19, 2008 at 2:43 am
which means put Brandon Jacobs or Eli Manning on the cover lol
November 19, 2008 at 10:53 am
What about my boy Larry Fitzgerald. I think he would be better suited than any of the three other recievers you had on your poll
November 19, 2008 at 12:23 pm
u make me feel ashamed of being black@ swizzy:
November 19, 2008 at 2:32 pm
i dont think its just madden sales that r suffering, with the economy the way it is all games, are feeling it, people just cant afford 2 shell out 60 f’n dollars on games that they’ll play thru once and lose interest in, i mean they r so many games that u cant afford 2 shell out hundreds on a system,takeing into account repairs b/c the things r so fragile these days, n then expect us 2pay $60
i was at gamestop, the day after gears of war 2 came out and they were offering it for $20 as long as you sold 2 of your used games!!!!!!
i mean i think i speak 4 many n especially as a college kid who uses game w/ firends during down time, that i just cant afford these games, n im better off renting most games at a blockbuster or sumthin n spendin $ only on those flagship games like gow2,n even then i wouldnt do it unless its comin out round xmas
November 19, 2008 at 2:37 pm
oh yeah the only time a wr could end up as cover athlete is if they can run after the catch and create highlight runs
thats why i think boldin,marshall, or steve smith would ever have realistic shots
that said i think boldin will be on a new team next yr so he wont be cover athlete even tho i think he deserves it
Portis ,Peterson, or Jacobs have better shots
November 19, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Man don’t put Boldin, Smith, Portis or Peterson there man, history shows that it will fuck up their careers. Hell they should do what they did with Brett (who was supposed to be retired) and put a retired player there e.g. Mike Strahan, John Lynch, Mike Alstott etc, at least that way you got a kickass player on the cover with none of them suffering career killers. Look what it did to Shaun man, that was horrible.
November 20, 2008 at 3:33 am
Brandon Marshall???
November 20, 2008 at 3:45 am
Meh not much of a Bronco guy lol. Indifferent.
)
Retired players who would be great for the cover:
-John Lynch
-Mike Strahan
-Mike Alstott
-Rodney Harrison if he retires (then again people hate him for being dirty
-Kurt Warner if he retires
Players who are good but I don’t like who should be cursed by the cover:
-Peyton Manning
-Eli Manning
-Terrell Owens
-Brady Quinn
Any other suggestions?
November 20, 2008 at 9:51 am
what EA should do is completely revamp their franchise mode and put the team that wins the superbowl on the cover… like a pic of all of them and the trophy and make madden 2010 the “road to the superbowl”
November 20, 2008 at 12:47 pm
well favre is having an okay yr this year
November 20, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Favre’s probably having a good year coz he’s in a different team now. On the cover he’s a Packer but now he’s a Jet. And don’t put the whole team that could cause total catastrophe lol.
November 21, 2008 at 8:55 am
EA should fuckin work on their franchise mode….add more features to make it more interesting, or this the last friggin madden game I’m buying..and the game is wayy too fragile for my taste.
November 22, 2008 at 3:21 am
Brandon Jacobs or Adrian peterson of the vikings
November 22, 2008 at 5:25 am
Brandon Jacobs
November 29, 2008 at 1:56 am
No I wouldn't mind seeing Matt Ryan on the Cover. Maybe even Albert Haynesworth or Kris Jenkins.
December 3, 2008 at 9:14 am
learn how to spell asswipe
Oh and T.O Sucks
December 8, 2008 at 2:47 am
I think that itd be really cool if instead of being "madden 2010" it was called Madden X. like the romen numeral.
December 10, 2008 at 12:26 pm
i think the madden 2010 cover will be eli manning. as much as i hate the giants they are having a phrnominal year after that super bowl win. if a reciever is to be put on the cover boldin wouldnt be it. he wants out of arizona and by next year prolly will be. if a reciever is on the cover it would be andre johnson. but its doubtful that will happen. im between eli manning and adrian peterson on the cover. maybe even joe flacco or matt ryan for turning horrible teams around.
December 10, 2008 at 12:27 pm
your a dumbass.
December 22, 2008 at 2:02 am
i think Pennington should be on cover. he's been unreal for the dolphins in turning them around from a 1-15 team to a 10-5 team, one win away from winning the AFC East
December 22, 2008 at 3:22 am
if you want someone who has showed skils go with matt cassel he took the pats. to a10-5 season and will be high listed free agent this off-season
February 6, 2009 at 8:19 am
Michael Vick… Maybe it'll help him sign to a new team…
Peta could get the money from his signing… haha