Why was Christian McCaffrey chosen by EA Sports for the Madden 25 cover?

As we approach the release date, details of the hotly anticipated video game, Madden NFL 25, are being drip fed to the public.

Most recently, the cover star of the Game has been revealed and it’s safe to say that a few eyebrows have been raised. For the first time in over a decade, a running back has been chosen as the face of the Game: the 49ers’ Chrisitan McCaffrey.

“It’s a huge honour,” McCaffrey admitted. “It’s something that I never really imagined happening to me. I always envisioned playing in the league and having success in the league. But being on the cover of Madden just never crossed my mind. I never thought that would happen to me.”

Why has McCaffrey been chosen?

McCaffrey, who signed a two-year extension worth $38 million to remain under contract with the 49ers through the 2027 season, is a huge video game fan, and his performances on the field have clearly not gone unnoticed. Simply put, his prolific performances during the season have caused EA Sports to make the decision to choose the Castle Rock native.

He won the AP Offensive Player of the Year last season as he played a key role in getting the San Francisco side all the way to the Super Bowl. He led the charts with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was level at the top of the touchdown charts with 21 across the campaign.

“I think it’s big,” McCaffrey said about a running back getting picked. “Hopefully it’s a step in the right direction for running backs. Over the last few years we’ve been a little bit slighted. So I’m hoping we can get things back to where they should be.” Before McCaffrey this season, the only 49ers player to be on any cover was Garrison Hearst, who appeared on the international cover in 1999.

The Independent reports that The McCaffrey Foundation has donated “more than 45 gaming consoles to hospitals around the country” to which the player commented that “I think there’s so many cool things that we can do with this,” McCaffrey said. “I think there’s a bunch of cool things we can do. Obviously, we’ll have to put our creativity to use and put my team’s minds together so that we can maximize the potential of where this thing can go and hopefully help a lot of kids out and put as many gaming consoles in hospitals as we can across the country.”