The cover of the Madden 25 video game goes to the San Francisco 49ers star

Christian McCaffrey grew up playing the Madden NFL video game with his brother and dreaming of one day becoming a player in the league.

Being on the cover of a famous video game was never even considered.

Electronic Arts Inc. announced on Tuesday that the star of the San Francisco 49ers running back will appear on the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL 25, the world premiere of which will take place on August 16.

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“It’s a huge honor,” McCaffrey said. “It’s something I never imagined would happen to me. I always imagined playing in the league and being successful there. But being on the cover of Madden never crossed my mind. I never thought something like this would happen to me.”

Your official #Madden25 Cover athlete @CMC_22

🏆 NFL Rushing Yards leader
🏆 2023 OPOY
🏆 Madden NFL cover athlete

It will come on 8/16/24. Pre-order now
🔗: https://t.co/NpB7qARx5m pic.twitter.com/XSOwlDarfT

— Madden NFL 25 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 11, 2024

McCaffrey won AP Offensive Player of the Year honors last season while helping San Francisco reach the Super Bowl. He led the NFL with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the NFL lead with 21 touchdowns.

The Madden cover honor came a week after McCaffrey signed a two-year, $38 million extension keeping his contract with the 49ers through the 2027 season. McCaffrey has become a rarity returning to cash in on a second big veteran deal. pushing for a raise in the salary bar for a position that has seen little growth at the top of the market over the past decade.

McCaffrey was featured on the cover of Madden for the first time since 2014, when Barry Sanders was featured on the global cover and Adrian Peterson was featured on the PS4 and XBox One alternate versions.

“I think that’s a big deal,” McCaffrey said of the runner getting into coverage. “I hope this is a step in the right direction for running backs. We’ve been a bit disrespected over the last few years. So I hope we can get everything back to where it should be.

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The only other runners to appear on the world cover are Peyton Hills (2012), Shaun Alexander (2007), Marshall Faulk (2003) and Eddie George (2001).

Garrison Hearst was featured on the international cover in 1999 and was the only 49ers player to be on the cover ahead of McCaffrey that season.

McCaffrey hopes that the publicity from the cover will help publicize a cause that is important to him. The McCaffrey Foundation launched Project Logan last year to honor the memory of one of his young fans, Logan Hale, who died of cancer in 2021 at the age of 13.

McCaffrey sent a signed T-shirt to Hale at the end of his battle with cancer, and Hale was buried in it. McCaffrey then learned that Hale wanted to buy video game consoles for children’s hospitals across the country and sought to fulfill that goal.

“It’s inspiring,” McCaffrey said of Hale’s wish. “It’s degrading. I think this is a lesson for everyone, that even in difficult times, think of others. Don’t be so self-absorbed. Here’s a young boy who’s not even in high school going through one of the worst things a child can go through, being incredibly selfless.

The McCaffrey Foundation has donated more than 45 game consoles to hospitals across the country and for the past two years has sponsored the Logan Bowl, in which eight NFL players compete in a Madden tournament to raise money for Project Logan. Chiefs receiver Hollywood Brown won this year’s tournament.

“I think we can do a lot of cool things with this,” McCaffrey said. “I think there are a lot of cool things we can do. Of course, we will need to use our creativity and put the minds of my team together so that we can maximize the potential of where this can go and hopefully help many children and put as many gaming consoles as possible in hospitals across the country.”

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