Tom Brady officially announced as Madden 22 cover athlete

It's official. Tom Brady, the Buccaneers' champion quarterback, will be on the cover of EA Sports' Madden 22 - the top selling sports game and only NFL game on the market. This is Brady's second time on the cover and will be the first time a Buccaneers player is featured.

Brady is sharing the spotlight with Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is also featured for the second time.

Madden began featuring players on the cover of the popular franchise for their "Madden 2001" edition, featuring then Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George. This is the second time a dual athlete cover will be released, the first being "Madden 2010" with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

It's worth noting that both times a dual athlete cover has been released, it's come after Bruce Arians won a Super Bowl. Arians was of course the offensive coordinator for the Steelers for Super Bowl XLIII and the head coach for the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Both of those championships were won at Raymond James Stadium.

And as it is with any year, the question arises about the "Madden Curse," where the cover athlete tends to get injured - or in some cases, they lose a pivotal postseason game. Eddie George, for instance, had a fumble against the Baltimore Ravens that led to a game winning score while Drew Brees - when featured on the cover - lost a wild card matchup with the Seattle Seahawks who won their division with a losing record.

When Tom Brady was featured, the New England Patriots made it to the Super Bowl, but lost to backup quarterback Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Madden 22 will be released on August 20th but is available for pre-order now.