It is that time of year again. EA Sports is gearing up to release the highly anticipated video game Madden 15. Fan voting will determine which player will be on the cover of the game. Sixteen players were nominated and placed in a bracket on ESPN.com and among these players were; Colin Kaepernick, Andrew Luck, Jamaal Charles and the finalists Richard Sherman and Cam Newton. 
In round 1, Newton faced Antonio Brown and won by a landslide with 80% to 20%. With Newton in the other round, his defeats has just been a little over 10% beating Jamaal Charles and Andrew luck. 
Sherman has won each round by more than 30 percent each time facing Alshon Jeffery, Jimmy Graham and Colin Kaepernick. Both Sherman and Newton had incredible seasons with their teams. Newton led the Carolina panthers to their a 12-4 record and earned a first round by in the playoffs, only to lose to the San Francisco 23-10 in the NFC divisional game. Sherman has been in most talks when it comes to defense after his deflection in the final seconds of the NFC championship game.
Every year a player is selected to be on the Madden cover, but what really comes with being the face of the game? Many say that the players selected endure the ‘Madden curse’.
The Madden curse supposedly affects each player who ends up on the cover. In 2007 when Vince Young was selected to be on the cover, the following season he threw 17 interceptions. In 2012, Calvin Johnson scored only five interceptions after being on the cover, but had 16 the year before. So will voting your favorite player to be on the cover really be worth it if you know the facts about the Madden curse? Newton took to YouTube to challenge his rival, Sherman, to a game of Madden before voting closes. In the video, Newton says, “If you don’t want to play me, that is cool and that’s understandable, because these thumbs are official.”
Voting is open through June 6 at http://espn.go.com/nfl/feature/maddenvote and Madden 15 is slated to release August 30, with pre-orders being available on August 26.
