Madden 13 Cover: Megatron Deserves to Be Game's Cover Athlete

If there is any justice in the cruel world of video game voting, then Calvin Johnson will beat out Cam Newton for the right to grace the cover of the next addition of the amazing Madden video game series. 

He will surely be promptly rewarded for this honor by the gods of the Madden curse bestowing him with an injury, or some crazy set of circumstances, that derails his season, but that is not the point here. 

The point is that voters should be stuffing the ballots for Megatron. 

This is no slight on Cam Newton. His record-breaking rookie campaign turned the NFL on its ear. He also has an outgoing personality and a bigger than life image that is perfect for this honor. 

But we've seen Newton on the cover before. Well, not Newton specifically, but other QBs and a few of those with similar styles to Newton. 

The Madden video game has featured a player on the cover of its mainstream version for the past 15 years. Six of those players have been QBs. 

Three of those QBs came into the NFL much like Newton. That is they had a better reputation for their mobility than their passing. The three other dual-threat QBs were Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Vince Young. 

That is all well and good, and it certainly should not keep Newton from the honor, but given the current choice between Newton and Johnson, Megatron needs to get a boost in votes simply because it is something different. 

And Megatron would definitely be a change of pace. Only once has a WR graced the cover of Madden. That came in 2009 with Larry Fitzgerald. And even then, he didn't get the honor on his own. He was on the cover with Troy Polamalu. 

With the NFL becoming more and more of a passing league, wide receivers play a more prominent role, and that should be represented on the lineage of the Madden covers. 

Johnson is the best receiver in the game. He can attack the position with his size and speed like no one before him. He is the perfect choice to be the first WR to have the cover spotlight all to himself.