Madden 13 Cover Vote: Cam Newton Vs Calvin Johnson Break Down

In a competition that truly gauges sheer fan interest in players, Cam Newton and Calvin Johnson have made the finals of the Madden 13 cover vote.

A host of football fans are Madden gamers, myself included, and it's usually a big deal to see who the person on the cover is.

Nfl 2012

Long gone are the days of EA Sports' walled-off selection process for the Madden cover athlete. Now, fans can cast their votes on ESPN's SportsNation for the face of the game and truly have a say in who appears on the next cover.

In Madden, Cam Newton and Calvin Johnson are two game-changing players who will have their huge moments and carry teams to victory.

Newton's ability to run with the football gives him a huge boost in the 'fun to play with' category, but questions about his accuracy are evident in the game. While the Auburn product can air it out, Newton has trouble locating the ball on short and medium throws.

While it's enjoyable to play with Newton, he's not nearly the best quarterback in the game and the former Heisman trophy winner is just not ready to match his off-field hype with his on-field numbers.

For all the records that Newton set, the signal caller had an alarming 21-17 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Unable to make the right reads, "Superman" cost his team a number of key possessions and wasn't able to lead his squad past a 6-10 season.

This is not to say that Newton is a bad player. In fact, one could make an argument that this former college standout will be playoff bound in 2012.

I just don't know if it's good for the game to have another quarterback rest on a great rookie season and then grace the Madden cover without much experience (see Young, Vince).

This is all, of course, in comparison to Lions talent Calvin Johnson. The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket has all the tools to succeed in the NFL and that's exactly what he's been doing since 2007. Succeeding.

In 2011, Johnson went off for 1,681 yards with 16 touchdowns, pacing the league in both categories (for wide receivers).

Standing tall at 6'5" with remarkable physical tools, this Detroit pass catcher is a lethal weapon in Madden. Pairing him with soon-to-be All-Pro quarterback Matthew Stafford makes the Lions a dangerous team to play with in Madden 13.

With the ability to go up for a rocket catch and take the top off of the defense, Johnson's ability to make an impact in a Madden game is second to few (if used correctly). Simply send this physical freak on a fade pattern and he'll make a huge play for your team.

Johnson could capture a victory here in the Cover vote.

For all of Newton's popularity, last year's vote came down to a small-market hero (Peyton Hillis) and a hype-laden rushing quarterback (Michael Vick). Whatever fans Vick lost from his dogfighting incident, you can argue he gained back from his history in the Madden game.

Whatever the result, Newton and Johnson represent an exciting future to an expanding NFL. Luckily enough for Detroit and Carolina, two new NFL epicenters, both of these players are signed for the long-term and will make waves in their respective cities for years to come.

Look for the vote to come down to the end, but I'm predicting a slight edge to Calvin Johnson.

Would I mind seeing Cam Newton on the cover, though? No.

Madden 13 Cover Vote: Cam Newton Vs Calvin Johnson Break Down

I'm Eli Nachmany, a writer for the up-and-coming NFL articles blog Nachmany Football. We can be found at http://www.nachmanyfootball.com or you can find me on Twitter @EliNachmany

The Madden Curse

In the year 2000, the Madden video game franchise underwent an important change that has been talked about in the sports world. The idea to put a football player on the cover of the bestselling sports video game franchise seemed like a good idea initially but has led to numerous injuries, retirements, and drops in statistics the season an athlete graces the cover.

In 2000, the Electronic Arts franchise chose Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders grace its video game cover. Before the game was released, Sanders would retire from the NFL and the team he had played for his entire career, the Detroit Lions. The Madden franchise had enough time to substitute out Sanders from the cover and replace his image with Green Bay Packers Dorsey Levens. Levens would experience a mediocre season playing for the 8-8 Packers and would retire the year after he graced the cover.

Nfl 2012

Levens and Sanders would represent the first players involved with the Madden cover who would retire shortly after. Marshall Faulk, who graced the cover in 2003, experienced a decrease in statistics and retired in 2005. Brett Favre was the most recent athlete to have a "Madden Curse" involving retirement. Similarly to the initial cover of Barry Sanders, the game replaced Brett Favre on the cover of the game with a new player. The difference on this 2009 cover was the fact that Favre was replaced by himself in a new uniform. Favre had retired in the offseason and was being honored by the Madden franchise with a cover spot in his Green Bay Packers uniform. The new game featured Favre in a New York Jets jersey.

Several football players have experienced strong declines in statistics the year they are on the cover of the Madden video games. Sports writers and analysts have argued that while this is considered part of the Madden Curse, it should be expected since the players who grace the cover are experiencing career years and are likely due for a decline the following year. Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, and Shaun Alexander all saw their statistics decline the year they were on the cover and were never able to recover.

Injuries suffered by Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, and Troy Polamalu were experienced during the season they were on their respective covers. The biggest impact of the Madden Curse is the injury bug that seems to plague the athletes on it. These athletes received boost in pride and popularity with the cover of video games but suffered injuries which cost them part or all of a season in the National Football League.

For the 2011 season fans got to choose the cover athlete for the first time. A vote came down to Philadelphia Eagle Michael Vick and Cleveland Brown Peyton Hillis. Peyton Hillis won the contest and was featured on the newest version of the video game. Time will tell if Hillis can avoid an injury or statistic downturn during the 2011-2012 NFL season.

The Madden Curse

View NFL Lines on the next player to be victim to the Madden curse! Also NFL Point Spread odds available on upcoming games.

What A Madden 2012 Strategy Guide Will Do

With Madden 2012 coming out on August 30th, 2011 gamers everywhere are trying to prepare to become the best they can in football video games. There are so many madden 12 tips and strategies that you will need to know in order to compete against the best competition online and in franchise mode. A common practice among active madden players is to buy madden 12 ebooks so that you get the upperhand on your opponents by getting help straight from professional gamers.

These madden strategy guides will give you the best plays on both offense and defense in an easy to understand format so that you can take them online with any of the 32 teams available and dominate other players. One of the best things about becoming skilled in madden 2012 is that you can win money by competing in the various tournaments throughout the United States. Millions of passionate fans buy the madden nfl series every year from major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Amazon but very few of those people get the upper hand by also buying a premium guide.

Super Bowl 2012

All of the madden-school strategy guides include full hd videos as well as complex written breakdowns and is presented to you in a secure digital ebook format. You will then be able to take the information that you get from the guides and use a poor madden 12 team and compete with teams such as the reigning super bowl champion, Green Bay Packers. The blitzes and coverages in the defensive strategy guides will leave your opponent confused and befuddled. You can act like you are the coach of your favorite NFL franchise and lead your team to a conference championship and maybe even a birth in the 2012 NFL Superbowl. The offensive sections of the tips shows you exactly what plays you will want to call and when it is best to call those plays. You will be taught how to properly read the defense and the coverages that they are in. Best of all, you aren't given a simple list of good plays. A madden 12 strategy guide will include schemes and setups to go along with all of the information presented to you.

Madden 2012 is produced and distributed by Electronic Arts. They have made the best football video games in the world over the last 20 years. There are a lot of new features in this year's edition so you will defiantly want to read up on things such as custom playbooks, online franchise mode, and team specific entrances. There will be plenty of madden 12 forums for you to join for free in case you want to enter tournaments or learn from free tips. A free madden tip that we can provide you before the game even comes out is to always substitute in the players on your team that have the most speed. Speed is one of the most crucial elements to any successful madden team. Attributes such as awareness have never mattered much in the past, so don't look for that to change in madden 2012 or anytime in the future.

What A Madden 2012 Strategy Guide Will Do

Madden-School is the leading source for Madden 2012 strategy guides and madden 12 tips.