Madden 25 cover star REVEALED

The cover star of the Madden 25 video game has been announced.

The latest game in the hit series is due to hit shelves on August 16 - weeks before the new NFL season gets underway. 

The identity of the cover star is always a hot topic and seen as one of the highest honors across the league.

And this year it has fallen to Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers.

It is the reward for another stellar season for arguably the NFL's best running back. 

Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers is the cover star of Madden 25

Last week McCaffrey signed a two-year extension with the San Francisco 49ers worth $38m

The 27-year-old, who reached the Super Bowl, is the reigning offensive player of the year

McCaffrey is the reigning offensive player of the year after rushing for 14 touchdowns and a career-best 1,459 yards in 2023. 

He helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl in February - which they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas. 

'It's a huge honor,' McCaffrey added.

'It´s something that I never really imagined happening to me. I always envisioned playing in the league and having success in the league. But being on the cover of Madden just never crossed my mind. I never thought that would happen to me.' 

McCaffrey is the first running back on the Madden cover since 2014, when Barry Sanders was on the worldwide cover and Adrian Peterson was on an alternate version for PS4 and XBox One.

'I think it´s big,' McCaffrey said about a running back getting the cover. 'Hopefully it´s a step in the right direction for running backs. Over the last few years we´ve been a little bit slighted. So I´m hoping we can get things back to where they should be.'

The only other running backs to be featured on the worldwide cover are Peyton Hills (2012), Shaun Alexander (2007), Marshall Faulk (2003) and Eddie George (2001).

Josh Allen was the face of Madden 24 and managed to avoid the cover's curse last season

Last week, McCaffrey signed a two-year extension with the 49ers to set a new salary record for running backs in the NFL. The 27-year-old landed a deal worth $38million - $19m per season.

McCaffrey arrived in Santa Clara for mandatory minicamp last week after 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan previously admitted he didn't know why the running back skipped OTAs. 

He was already the highest-paid running back in the NFL, having signed a four-year, $64m extension back in 2020.

McCaffrey replaces Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen as the Madden cover star.

The question now becomes whether he will be able to avoid the well-publicized 'Madden Curse' that has plagued so many previous cover athletes.

Allen managed to avoid it last season but the unfortunate trend has seen the majority of the game's cover athletes either end up missing time due to injury or see their production fall off dramatically.

Of the 26 NFL stars who have appeared on the cover of the game since 1999, 15 have suffered injuries the following season, with the curse slightly tailing off in the mid-2010s.