Christian McCaffrey will be on the cover of “Madden 25,” becoming the first San Francisco 49er to land the honor in the last 25 years and the first running back to do so in more than a decade. The game will launch worldwide on August 16.
In his first full season with the 49ers last year, McCaffrey led the league in rushing yards and total yards and was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year. He also tied the Miami Dolphins’ Raheem Mostert in total touchdowns with 21.
According to Madden NFL, video game players used him to score a lot more touchdowns than that — more than 450 million — last year. He was the most popular running back on Madden 24.
“Christian’s electrifying, dynamic and physical play style perfectly represents the gameplay innovations we’re bringing to Madden NFL 25 and made him the perfect fit for this year’s cover,” said Mike Mahar, senior production director of Madden NFL.
McCaffrey is the first-ever 49er on the game’s worldwide cover. In 1999, running back Garrison Hearst was on the international edition.
McCaffrey’s also the first running back on any Madden cover in more than a decade, a reflection of the league’s increasing reliance on the passing game. The 2013 game featured Barry Sanders on one cover and Adrian Peterson on the other.
The 49ers recently rewarded McCaffrey, 28, for his 2023 accomplishments with a two-year contract extension that further boosts him as the highest-paid runner in the league. McCaffrey said last week it was important for him to continue to raise the monetary bar for running backs.
“Running back’s been undervalued for a long time now, and hopefully this is a step in the right direction,” he said.
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(Photos: Courtesy of EA Sports)