‘Madden NFL 15’ Cover Vote: Richard Sherman Among Four Semifinalists

The cover of the “Madden NFL” video game franchise often has been a blessing and a curse.

It’s good for a player’s brand to be associated with the best-selling and most popular NFL video game franchise of all time, but being on the cover has brought some bad luck to several players. The infamous “Madden Curse” has been blamed for a player’s poor performance or injury during the year in which he appeared on the cover, but the last current player to be featured on the cover, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, wasn’t affected. Last year’s cover athlete was Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders.

In what seems to be an annual tradition for most sports video games, the cover athlete will be determined by a fan vote. As of Friday, four players remain in the “Madden NFL 15” cover vote competition. No New England Patriots were part of the 16-player process.

via @EAMaddenNFL

On one side of the bracket is Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck against Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. The other semifinal matchup is a battle we saw during last year’s NFC Championship Game between Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Sherman got the best of Kaepernick on the field, but will he be as successful with the voters?

You can cast your vote right here.