Odell Beckham Jr. Wins Madden NFL 16 Cover Vote

[ChaseB]

Odell Beckham Jr. has beat out Rob Gronkowski and will be on the cover of Madden NFL 16.

It's hard to be too shocked by the result. Odell Beckham Jr. had the highlights and the stats in his rookie season. In just 12 games, he had 91 receptions, 1,300 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Oh, and there's this catch.

That being said, Rob Gronkowski would have been a fine selection as well. He's a national treasure, and regardless of Deflategate, I know GRONK is pure and innocent in all of that.

Right now, there's a lot of negative attention around the Patriots though, and so that probably did not help Gronkowski's case. Either way, perhaps Patriots fans will be relieved he's not going to be on the cover. While Gronkowski did get through last year mostly injury free -- and the Madden Curse is not as evil as it once was -- it's probably better not to tempt the football gods.

Looking forward, some news about what folks can expect from Madden NFL 16 has started to come out. Beckham Jr. being on the cover makes buzzwords like "battle for air supremacy" and a focus on fighting for 50/50 balls make a lot of sense as well.

We will be sure to update you with any other updates that trickle out at this point, but until then how is everybody feeling about the selection?

[jerwoods]

gronk has more of a track record than beckham

i think this was done because the NFL is very against NE right now

[jbd345]

The only difference I really saw was in the lighting. Kind of disappointed the jumbotron/ribbon board graphics are the same as well. One positive, it looks like we finally have the crowed we saw in that cgi trailer two years ago.

[oneamongthefence]

Cover is so much better than 15.

[m1ke_nyc]

Lighting looks good and each catch looked smooth outside of ODBs catch. That's all I could really take away from this.

[CLEgend]

What stood out to me the most was the after interception hand to helmet stiff arm by Patrick Peterson. Is it just me or is that a new stiff arm animation? Also, the one thing that's off in this cover to me is that the football is half cut off by the box.

[Number999]

Happy to see a young new guy win it.. really hope OBJ goes on to have a long and successful career so this doesn't look like Peyton Hillis or something in the future.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by jerwoods

gronk has more of a track record than beckham i think this was done because the NFL is very against NE right now

It was a fan vote through a third-party entity. NFL can't really do much about it. Also it was 52 percent to 48 percent so it was very close.

Quote: Originally Posted by oneamongthefence

Cover is so much better than 15.

I wouldn't guarantee this is the official cover yet. Sometimes it's changed after an official "cover shoot" once the cover athlete is revealed.