It Looks Like We'll Get Brady and Mahomes on the Madden Cover

I don't pretend to be the biggest gamer in the world. Madden or otherwise. I've seen my kids fight the Battle of Stalingrad and negotiate their way through zombie-ridden post-apocalyptic Boston enough to say I've got nothing against it. I'm just too lazy even for that activity. I prefer my mindless entertainment to be passive and require no effort or skills of any kind on my part. 

And yet, I do follow the Madden Cover reveal every year. Maybe in that way that some people who don't see a lot of movies will nevertheless watch the Oscars. For a couple of hours out of the year, the Madden Cover is news. It sort of sits in the subsection of a few different Venn Diagram circles: sports, gaming, pop culture, big business, celebrity. Even curses, if that's your thing. (Personally the only curse I've ever believed in is the Irish one. Because I can confirm.) 

So with that, EA Sports released this video today in order to gin up some buzz for the official reveal, which is coming Thursday morning. Two goats. So they're hinting at Tom Brady, obviously. And ... who? Drew Brees? That might make sense. Peyton Manning, for some reason? Some defensive Greatest of All Time? Joe Montana, or is he being overlooked now due to proximity bias? Peyton Hillis, since he makes a superlative cameo at the end? 

Yeah, about that. Next time EA Sports tries to build up suspense ahead of their grand announcement, they need to remember there are no secrets in an age where every part of the world is covered by a camera at all times. Some internet sleuths were all over this one:

Nice try. But you've either got to do a better job of creating a vast, impenetrable security perimeter around your top secret site, or not be so obvious with your use of baby goats. 

Unless they can come up with some other reason why Brady and Patrick Mahomes would be standing around at a Florida day school in April, getting their picture taken in full uniform on a football field, I think it's safe to say this case has been cracked. Either that or it's an elaborate scheme to throw everyone off the scent, but who am I kidding? The last two (actually the last three) Super Bowl champion quarterbacks have better things to do than to help a software giant prank the world. So it's Brady and Mahomes, for sure. 

I guess the only issue now though is whether anyone thinks they're getting out over their skis just a bit calling Mahomes the GOAT of anything. Personally I like to let a guy get higher than 121st on the all time touchdown passes list and 161st in yards before I start throwing that acronym at him. But then what I don't know about video game promotion could fill a library. 

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P.S. Maybe I do have one other issue. And it's coming from someone who hasn't played the game in years. At this point, shouldn't Brady just be permanently set to God Mode? How much more winning does he have to do before the game catches up and just makes him unstoppable? Maybe after he wins his next seven rings.