Cam Newton the Early Favorite for Madden 13 Cover over Rodgers, Megatron, Willis

The Madden '13 cover vote has reached the final four, with Patrick Willis, Aaron Rodgers, Calvin Johnson and the debatable favorite Cam Newton vying for the heavily debated spot.

Newton has steamrolled the competition thus far by posting overwhelming victories over LeGarrette Blount, Antonio Gates and Larry Fitzgerald. Newton's opponent in the semifinal round will be the star linebacker from the San Francisco 49ers, Willis. Newton's path to the championship round was made a little easier with Willis squeaking out a close win over a heavy favorite and number two seed Victor Cruz (Newton is the one seed).

Another player that had a perceived chance within the gaming community to knock off Newton in this tournament was Rob Gronkowski. 'Gronk' also saw a defeat at the hands of Calvin Johnson.

The winner will be announced April 18. Judging by the amount overwhelming victories that Newton has had so far in the tournament (his closest competition was a 70 percent to 30 percent win over Fitzgerald) he has to be seen as the favorite. There's also a large contingency of the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons fan base throwing votes Newton's way in hopes of casting the much maligned Madden curse on the Panthers quarterback.

Many observers will be quick to pencil in Rodgers as Newton's last hurdle in the championship round due to the Packers great following. I'll predict that's why Newton can expect to go up against the receiver known as Megatron in the finals.

Packers fans don't need a Madden cover to gratify anything. I expect the majority of their votes to go against Rodgers in order to place the supposed curse on a division foe.

With the Madden numerals stuck on 13 for a year, is this the year that a mega curse goes into effect? Will the curse be reversed? All four of these megastars are great enough to break the stigma, but it's a story that will have to wait for another day.

For now, the story is Cam Newton likely running away with the Madden NFL '13 cover vote just as he did many NFL records during his rookie tenure.