New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who won his fifth Super Bowl title three months ago, was on Friday named the cover player for the ‘Madden NFL 18’ video game.
And the 40-year-old superstar, who becomes the oldest NFL player ever featured on the EA Sports American football video game, challenged the notion of a “curse” on Madden cover players in a video on his Facebook page.
“I’ve heard there are some of you out there who might be worried about something called the Madden Curse” Brady said. “There’s no such thing as curses. It’s a total myth.”
Brady broke a mirror with a hammer and walked under a ladder, both bad luck signs, to support his case.
“They wouldn’t let me break the full-length mirror… All good!” Brady posted in a Facebook message.
The video game, available August 25 just ahead of the 2017 season’s September start, is called the “G. O.A.T.” edition for Greatest of All Time. It has a cover with Brady from the waist up in a Patriots jersey and helmet, his mouth open wide and screaming.
Brady follows Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski, who was on last year’s video game cover, making this the first time teammates have been featured in consecutive years.
But Gronkowski was limited to only eight games last season because of a back injury, the latest victim of a “curse” that has also been said to have claimed such NFL victims as Michael Vick and Adrian Peterson.
“I’m not one to believe in curses so I’m ready to take the challenge head on like always,” Brady said. “It doesn’t stand a chance.”
Brady grew up in San Mateo, California, only a few miles from where Electronic Arts (EA) opened.
“The cover is a great honor for me, especially since I’ve been playing the game since growing up next to EA headquarters in the Bay Area,” Brady said.
“It has been such a great game over a long period of time. I played it so much when I was younger, a little less now.”
While Brady is a champion on the field, he’s not even the best NFL video game player in his house.
“My son Jack loves beating up on me,” Brady said.
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