Rob Gronkowski Named 'Madden NFL 17' Cover Athlete

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will be gracing the cover of Madden NFL 17.

SportsCenter shared a mock-up of the newest entry in the legendary video game series on Thursday:  

Gronkowski took to Twitter to celebrate the decision:

This was the first time since Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald shared the cover for Madden NFL 10 that EA Sports selected the player who would grace the newest version of the video game. In the previous six years, the company allowed fans to pick the cover athlete from a group of select stars.

Of course, the Madden cover has been both a blessing and a curse for those who have recently earned the honor—a trend that started when running back Eddie George had prime placement on Madden 2001. George rushed for fewer than 1,000 yards for the first time in his NFL career in 2001—one year after he was on the cover—and he was never the same player again:

Year	Cover Athlete(s)	Bad Luck
2001	Eddie George	Ended streak of four straight Pro Bowls, failed to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing in 2001
2002	Daunte Culpepper	Missed five games in 2001
2003	Marshall Faulk	Missed two games in 2002, ended streak of five straight 1,000-yard seasons
2004	Michael Vick	Only played in five games in 2003
2005	Ray Lewis	Earned first-team All-Pro in 2004 but played in just six games in 2005
2006	Donovan McNabb	Played 19 games between 2005 and 2006
2007	Shaun Alexander	Ran for 1,636 yards over remainder of career before retiring in 2008
2008	Vince Young	Threw 9 TD, 17 INT in 2007 before missing 13 games in 2008
2009	Brett Favre	Threw league-high 22 INT in 2008, retired after poor 2010 season
2010	Troy Polamalu & Larry Fitzgerald	Polamalu missed 11 games in 2009; Fitzgerald averaged fewest YPG receiving since rookie season.
2011	Drew Brees	Threw career-high 22 INT; Saints lost to 7-9 Seahawks in Wild Card Round
2012	Peyton Hillis	Averaged 3.6 yards a carry in 2011 and missed six games
2013	Calvin Johnson	He enjoyed one of best individual seasons of his NFL career, but the Lions won four games in 2013 then lost six of last seven in 2014 to miss playoffs.
2014	Adrian Peterson	Ran for 831 fewer yards than year before, missed two games in 2013; suspended for all but one game in 2014

There's obviously no tangible impact on the field that results from a player being on the Madden cover; it's just one of the more entertaining coincidences in the NFL. Recently, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was one game away from winning a second consecutive Super Bowl the year he was featured, and in 2015, New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. built on his impressive rookie campaign.

Gronkowski is relatively curse-proof in terms of performance. He's the NFL's best tight end, and he caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015. If anything, the offseason addition of Martellus Bennett might result in Gronk posting bigger numbers in 2016.

Should the three-time All-Pro go down injured, though, the whole of New England may lay siege to EA Tiburon's offices in Maitland, Florida.

The cover reveal wasn't the only news to come out about Madden NFL 17 this week. EA Sports unveiled the first trailer, which is all about the game's cover star:

Operation Sports' Steve Noah also noticed Xbox's online store featured a small summary of Madden NFL 17 that included "a renewed focus on franchise mode":

"

Take your team all the way in Madden NFL 17 with a renewed focus on Franchise mode, putting you at the center of your team's Championship run. Arm your team for gridiron glory on both sides of the ball with the most balanced gameplay to date, featuring all-new ball carrier feedback cues, defender fake out mechanics and an innovative, authentic defensive AI system. Madden NFL 17 is the most complete Madden … ever.

"

Bryan Wiedey of Pastapadre also shared two screenshots from the game:

Madden NFL 17 will hit shelves Aug. 23, per Polygon's Samit Sarkar.