I’m all for democracy and letting people vote for their choices in most circumstances, but this is just getting ridiculous: Peyton Hillis will be on the cover of this year’s Madden game.
Now, I have nothing against Hillis as a person or a player – he gives hope to white runningbacks everywhere – but the Madden cover is supposed to be reserved for the best in the game and Hillis is not that. Unless you count it as “best white runningback,†but even then Danny Woodhead should have received some consideration.
I’m no fan of the man that Hillis beat in the final of EA Sports 32-player bracket, Mike Vick, but he was far more deserving to get the cover. He’s one of the most electrifying athletes in all of sports and isn’t that what you want from a video game cover boy?
More than one million votes were cast in the final and somehow Hillis trounced Vick by a 66%-34% margin, although I do have a bit of a theory as to why this may have occurred: The Madden Curse.
I won’t bother recapping what the Curse is, but needless to say, you might not want your favourite team’s player on the cover of Madden. So were Philly fans smart enough to vote against Vick? And were Cleveland fans voting for Hillis because they’re just happy to see their team win something after years in the doldrums? Plus, you can’t rule out the possibility of dog-loving voters picking against the man they despise.
What EA should have done was the same thing they did last year: Let the fans vote, but give them some logical choices. Last year it was Drew Brees (the eventual winner) vs. Reggie Wayne vs. Jared Allen. This year, why could they have had Vick go against Aaron Rodgers and Andre Johnson or someone else?
The ball was definitely dropped on this decision.
Follow me on Twitter @danbilicki