Is Eli Manning a dark horse to appear on Madden NFL 22 cover?
Earlier this week, EA Sports teased the upcoming cover of their trademark franchise, Madden, which is currently scheduled for release in late August. In the tease from EA, two goats were seen walking through the doors of a barn. And in the world of sports, goats means, quite literally, the greatest of all-time. Even former cover athlete @thepeytonhillis didnt see this coming  6.17.21 | 10am ET  #Madden22 pic.twitter.com/xiriLClQx3  Madden NFL 22 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 14, 2021  Speculation has run rampant on who the two goats could represent with most postulating that its Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs). But others have taken their speculation in different directions with Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports wondering if they could possibly represent Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. This ones admittedly a bit out there from our top two options but it does make sense when you think about it. In the past, EA Sports has given the Madden NFL cover to a non-active player (Barry Sanders in 2013 for Madden NFL 25), so they wouldnt be breaking entirely new ground by making Peyton and Eli Manning the co-cover athletes. Despite being one of the greatest quarterbacks of his era, Peyton has never been on the cover of Madden NFL. If they were ever going to right that wrong, the year when the quarterback is set to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame would be a solid time to do it. Also, adding in Eli would be a good gesture to the former New York Giants legend and would tie in the elder and baby goat teaser quite nicely. We dont see it. We genuinely do not see it, but we cant entirely rule it out, either. But if EA teases two goats and then slaps Eli on the Madden cover, Twitter will literally melt to the ground. Giants fans would love it, of course, but those long-standing Eli detractors wouldnt know what to do with themselves. Heads would be exploding all over the place. Itd actually be a fun thing to witness. EA Sports will officially reveal the Madden NFL 22 cover athlete(s) on Thursday, June 17 at 10:00 a.m. EDT.