In the spirit of March Madness, a time when every media outlet and blog (except for this one!) goes obnoxiously overboard with bracket tournaments to pick “the best” of random things, EA Sports, in cahoots with ESPN’s “SportsNation” TV show, is putting its cover athlete selection process for Madden NFL 12 into a 32-team bracket format, with the winner to be chosen by you, the fans.
The tournament consists of one representative from each of the NFL’s 32 teams, and you can vote for your favorite by visiting www.ESPN.com/MaddenVote. Every Monday throughout the tournament, “SportsNation,” airing at 4PM EST, will reveal the voting results to show who reaches the next round, culminating with the cover athlete coronation on April 27th. My money (not my personal vote) is on a showdown between Aaron Rodgers and Michael Vick (baggage and all) in the final, with Rodgers the odds on favorite to win the prize. However, my gut tells me fan favorite Tim Tebow is poised for a possible Cinderella run.
According to EA, the seeding and team representative’s were determined “based on a variety of criteria including on-the-field performance during the 2010 NFL season, their visibility within their franchise and community, and their personal career journey,” but honestly, some of the picks are an absolute joke. Like the Seattle Seahawks, who apparently are so bad that the “12th Man” identity of the team’s crowd was chosen over an actual player. And Danny Woodhead of the Patriots!? What is that about? I think a man by the name of Tom Brady plays for the Patriots, and he was only Offensive Player of the Year and league MVP this past season…
But hey, if you don’t like EA’s picks, you can create your own bracket and use it to compete for prizes over on the Madden NFL Facebook page.
So, who’s your pick for Madden NFL 12 cover athlete?
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
