Not so much -- us
haters are still alive and breathing
.
It is a curveball that Rodgers didn't make it through. Then again, how coincidental is it that Hillis and Vick were the ones initially promoting the "cover vote" on ESPN and the like?
This is my point: it's too late in the game to plan an effective marketing strategy. They can't say on April 28th, hey Jamaal Charles won the cover, let's plan some effective marketing around him. With 4 months to release, this stuff has to be planned in advance, including making sure the potential cover guy has the availability to make appearances to market the game.