49ers’ McCaffrey Named Madden NFL 25 Cover Athlete

He did it again. Dual threat half back Christian McCaffrey reset the market by inking a 2-year, $38M deal, which is a record contract extension, this offseason. Now, the San Francisco 49ers star has added another historic feat to his growing list of accomplishments: “Madden” cover athlete.

EA Sports announced Tuesday that McCaffrey, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, will be the featured star of “Madden NFL 25,” becoming the first 49ers player to grace the game’s cover in more than a quarter of a century. McCaffrey will also be the first running back to appear on the “Madden” cover in more than a decade.

The star calls being on the “Madden” a “lifelong dream come true!” he wrote on his social media platform.

Not since the likes of Garrison Hearst, the former Bay Area All-Pro and Comeback Player of the Year, had a 49ers standout landed on the cover of the iconic annual NFL video game; Hearst appeared on “Madden NFL 99,” released in 1998, alongside the late John Madden. Prior to McCaffrey, the last running backs to appear on the cover were Detroit Lions great and Hall of Famer Barry Sanders and former Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson, who shared the honor side by side in 2013 for the 25th anniversary edition of “Madden.”

One of the contemporary and elite faces of the 49ers, McCaffrey was a catalyst for San Francisco’s journey to Super Bowl LVIII in 2023, pacing the NFL with a career-high 1,459 rushing yards and 2,023 yards from scrimmage. He also found the end zone 21 times, earning his third career Pro Bowl selection one year after helping San Francisco advance to a NFC Championship.

The 28-year-old McCaffrey spent the first five and a half years of his NFL career with the Carolina Panthers, who drafted him No. 8 overall out of Stanford in 2017. He twice topped the 100-catch mark as a pass-catching threat in Carolina, logging a career-high 1,005 receiving yards in 2019. His new contract with the 49ers makes him the game’s highest-paid player at his position, averaging $19 million per year.

“It’s really humbling,” McCaffrey told ESPN. “I feel really grateful because obviously stuff like this is a testament to my teammates, my coaches, people who have helped me be in the position to have success, and so I feel really grateful for that.

“This is such a cool milestone for me, and to be on the cover, I think of those people who have helped me along the way, and obviously being the first 49ers player is really humbling when you think about how many greats have played for this organization. Definitely feel very fortunate.”

Ahead of McCaffrey’s announcement as this year’s “Madden” star, some fans had predicted Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the 2025 selection. Four of the last five covers had featured quarterbacks, with the sole exception highlighting Madden himself when he passed away.