NFL legend John Madden is the Madden 23 cover star

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Madden 23 features three separate covers, and they are a fitting tribute to John Madden himself

Madden 23
(Image credit: EA)

EA has confirmed that the Madden NFL 23 cover star will be John Madden himself, following the legendary coach and commentator’s death last December.

It will mark the first time Madden, who won a Super Bowl ring with the Oakland Raiders before establishing himself as a legend in the play-by-play booth, has appeared on the box since Madden 2007’s Hall of Fame edition.

Madden 17

(Image credit: EA)

It’s not the only way EA is paying tribute to the man who has fronted the ubiquitous Gridiron sim since its 1988 inception. It’s calling today (June 1) Madden Day, and dedicating a renovated field at EA HQ in Redwood Shores as ‘John Madden Field’. June 1 was the original release date of that very first game in the series, 34 years ago.

There’s also an ‘interactive experience’ dedicated to Madden in the new game. Two versions of Coach Madden lead opposing teams of All Madden athletes, who go head-to-head in the 1970s Oakland Coliseum. Remastered audio clips of the great man also feature as part of this bespoke mode.

“There are people on the team here who, until quite recently, used to go to Coach’s house annually to review the game,” senior producer Mike Mahar tells GamesRadar. “There is a deep connection [among the team] to him as a person. And he stands for authentic eleven-vs-eleven football. That caused us to go back and look at what inspired Coach, and EA, to partner originally.”

We’ll have more on those Madden-inspired new gameplay features tomorrow (June 2), and a Madden 23 release date is also expected imminently.

Ben Wilson
Ben Wilson

I'm GamesRadar's sports editor, and obsessed with NFL, WWE, MLB, AEW, and occasionally things that don't have a three-letter acronym – such as Chvrches, Bill Bryson, and Streets Of Rage 4. (All the Streets Of Rage games, actually.) Even after three decades I still have a soft spot for Euro Boss on the Amstrad CPC 464+.