“The Iceman” could cometh to your video game system soon, if reports are to be believed.
USA Today reported Sunday that the makers of the popular “Madden” video game were set to reveal their next cover subject this week in Chicago and speculated that Bears quarterback Caleb Williams could be their choice. Unconfirmed online images have shown mockups of Williams on the cover, USA Today reported.
If Williams ends up indeed being on the cover, he’d become the first Bears player ever grace the primary version of the game. That a charter franchise in one of the biggest markets in sports would not have a cover subject speaks to the dearth of offensive firepower in Bears history. Williams set the franchise single-season passing record last year, though he fell short of becoming the first Bears quarterback to ever surpass 4,000 yards in a season.
Through two seasons, Williams’ resume doesn’t match many of the game’s cover subjects over the years. The last three have been to the Pro Bowl 11 times and Williams has never been picked. There’s little doubting Williams’ popularity, though, after a season in which he debuted his “Iceman” celebration — and later tried to trademark the name — and provided the NFL with some of its most memorable moments.
Williams’ 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore that beat the Packers in overtime in December was named the league’s Moment of the Year at NFL Honors. His fourth-down jump pass to Rome Odunze in a playoff win against the Packers in January drew comparisons to the Air Jordan logo.
Neither were the most jaw-dropping play the quarterback made last season. With 27 seconds left and the Bears trailing the Rams by seven in a second-round playoff game, Williams took the snap on fourth-and-four from the 14, backpedaled 26 yards and heaved a prayer to Cole Kmet. The tight end caught the pass, which went 51.2 yards in the air. An extra point tied the game but the Bears went on to lose in overtime.
Running back Saquon Barkley was featured in the most recent game after his record-setting season and Super Bowl victory with the Eagles. Bills quarterback Josh Allen and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey were on the cover the two years preceding Barkley. McCaffrey had an injury-filled, star-crossed season after being put on the cover, appearing in just four games and reviving talk of a “Madden curse.”
John Madden — the former Raiders coach, “Monday Night Football” analyst and football ambassador — was on the cover of his namesake game until Titans running back Eddie George was put on the cover of Madden 2001. Madden returned to the cover in 2022, the year after his death.
The three other NFC North teams have had covers, with the Vikings boasting Daunte Culpepper and Adrian Peterson, the Lions claiming Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson and the Packers featuring Brett Favre. Bears rival Aaron Rodgers, who said he will retire after this season, has never graced it.
Former Bears center Roberto Garza appeared on the cover of the Spanish-language version of the game in 2009.