Madden 13 Cover Vote - The Finals

Calvin Johnson or Cam Newton? It's a tough call, and either would make a good pick for the cover of Madden 13. Before I explain my pick and make a prediction, here are the previous winners...

2001 - Eddie George

2002 - Daunte Culpepper

2003 - Marshall Faulk

2004 - Michael Vick

2005 - Ray Lewis

2006 - Donovan McNabb

2007 - Shaun Alexander

2008 - Vince Young

2009 - Brett Favre

2010 - Larry Fitzgerald/Troy Polamalu

2011 - Drew Brees

2012 - Peyton Hillis

As you can see, there have been six quarterbacks on the cover as opposed to .5 receivers. That should weigh in to everyone's decision. But we can't just vote Calvin in because he's a receiver. We have to decide if he's good enough to warrant something that no one who has ever played his position has ever received. Through the Madden cover era, the best wide receiver we've seen has been Randy Moss, who's considered by many people to be the second best receiver to ever play the game behind the Jerry Rice. If Moss never graced the cover, how could Calvin?

Then again, is the Madden cover even about recognizing greatness? This has been going on from 2001-present, yet neither Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, the two guys who have dominated the era, have never been on the cover. The more I look at it, the Madden cover seems to be about three things: 1) Recognizing an outstanding single season performance and 2) Recognizing the "hottest" athlete at the time in both the real NFL and the video game and 3) recognizing recent post-season success

Eddie George's cover came a year after his best statistical performance, when he rushed for 1500 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Daunte Culpepper's came after he burst on the seen as one of the most exciting QBs in the game

Marshall Faulk's came after a hot season and a Super Bowl victory

Michael Vick's came after bursting on the scene as the hottest young QB in real life and especially the video game

Ray Lewis' came after a DPOY award

Donovan McNabb's came after his best statistical season when the Eagles were the most exciting team in the game with him and T.O.

Shaun Alexander's came after his ridiculous 1880 yard, 27 touchdown season

Vince Young's came after an average statistical year, but he was still one of the freshest young stars in the game

Brett Favre's came after this come back year with the Packers when he was the hottest player in the game besides Brady

Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu's cover came after they met in the Super Bowl

Drew Brees' came after his Super Bowl victory

Peyton Hillis' came after his unreal year

So, out of the three categories that all these fall into, who has the edge in each?

Single Season Numbers

Cam Newton - 4,051 yards, 21 tds, 17 ints, 60% completion, 706 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns

Calvin Johnson - 96 receptions, 1,681, 16 touchdowns

The Edge - I'm actually going to go with Calvin...Calvin was 4th in receptions, 1st in yards, and 1st in touchdowns among wide receivers. Cam is 10th in yards and 11th in touchdowns among quarterbacks. He is 1st in rushing yards, and second in the entire league in touchdowns, but how many of those came from the 1 yard line? Calvin's season is more impressive to me.

"Hotter" Athlete

This has got to be Newton. Calvin's been around for five years now, and while he's cool as hell, Newton captivated everyone with his play last year.

Postseason Success

This is obviously Calvin. He was on the better team, but not only did he make it to the playoffs, but he played at the highest level a receiver can play at in that game against the Saints. He was simply un-guardable, catching 12 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

My vote goes to Calvin. He beats out Cam in two of the three categories that have decided the previous winners, and he'd be the first of his position to grace the cover alone. Cam will get his cover one way or another, because he's just scratched the surface of his potential. Calvin, however, had one of the best years in recent memory by a receiver last year and took over as the best player at his position.

My prediction is also Calvin. While you might expect Cam to dominate in vote getting, he barely edged out Patrick Willis last week while Calvin easily handled Aaron Rodgers. Here's to hoping we see Megatron on the cover of Madden 13'.

To vote, click here.