Barry Sanders beats out Adrian Peterson for Madden 25 cover
Barry Sanders will grace the cover of the latest installment of the mega-popular Madden video football games 15 years after retiring from the NFL.
EA Sports had fans vote on who would appear on the front of Madden 25 using a 64-player bracket system -- 32 retired players representing the “old school” and 32 current players representing the “new school.”
Sanders garnered 58% of the vote over “new school” finalist Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings.
I am shocked, excited, humbled, elated. I am also proud to be the Madden 25 Cover athlete. — Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) April 25, 2013
The voter turn out in this program has been remarkable. And the fact that I won is pretty sweet, but very surprising and amazing. #Madden25 — Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) April 25, 2013
Sanders faced some tough competition in his bracket, having to beat a pair of legendary San Francisco 49ers -- Joe Montana in the quarterfinals (57%-43%) and Jerry Rice (52%-48%) -- to reach the finals.
Reigning league MVP Peterson had a much easier path to his showdown with Sanders, with his closest matchup coming in the semifinals against Houston’s Arian Foster (66%-36%).
Congrats to my guy Barry Sanders for winning the 2013 Madden Cover! Any other guy to take me down... it would’ve been a problem! Salute — Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) April 25, 2013
Sanders is the second straight player affiliated with the Lions to make the cover. Calvin Johnson got the nod last year and went on to set a new NFL record for receiving yards in a season.
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