{"id":9379,"date":"2025-06-03T06:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=9379"},"modified":"2025-06-03T06:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:05:17","slug":"saquon-barkley-named-madden-nfl-26-cover-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=9379","title":{"rendered":"Saquon Barkley named Madden NFL 26 cover star"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>EA Sports has named Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley the cover athlete for Madden NFL 26, honouring a landmark season that included a Super Bowl title, 2,005 rushing yards and a viral moment that seemed lifted straight from the video game itself.<\/p>\n<p>Barkley, 28, is only the ninth player in NFL history to surpass the 2,000-yard mark in a single season.<\/p>\n<p>He also became the newest member of the elite \u201cMadden 99 Club,\u201d the game\u2019s highest rating tier, and the latest player to front the iconic franchise.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by EA SPORTS Madden NFL 26 (@eamaddennfl)<\/p>\n<p>The cover reveal was accompanied by a now-iconic image: Barkley mid-air, performing a reverse hurdle over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones during a Week 9 clash.<\/p>\n<p>The move\u2014executed while Barkley had his back turned to the defender\u2014was widely circulated online and lauded as one of the season\u2019s most jaw-dropping plays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSaquon\u2019s reverse hurdle was one of the rare, defining moments in NFL history that would have once been described as \u2018something out of a video game,\u2019\u201d said Evan Dexter, vice president of franchise strategy and marketing for EA Sports Madden NFL.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by EA SPORTS Madden NFL 26 (@eamaddennfl)<\/p>\n<p>In a promotional video released with the announcement, Barkley reflected on the journey from gamer to cover athlete. \u201cThis last season\u2019s been everything,\u201d he said. \u201cWin the Super Bowl, create iconic moments. It starts with imagination \u2014 being a kid, having those moments, playing video games and saying, \u2018Why can\u2019t I do it in real life?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former New York Giants star credited his new team\u2019s culture for fuelling his breakout campaign. Barkley was a key contributor in the Eagles\u2019 title run and tallied 15 total touchdowns over the course of the season.<\/p>\n<p>EA Sports stated the upcoming edition of Madden NFL would offer its most realistic simulation yet. \u201cIt\u2019s a display of the athleticism and creativity of one of football\u2019s most electrifying athletes,\u201d Dexter said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by EA SPORTS Madden NFL 26 (@eamaddennfl)<\/p>\n<p>The game is set to release on 14 August 2025, with pre-orders now open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarring on the cover of Madden NFL 26 and being named to the Madden NFL 99 Club are both dreams come true,\u201d Barkley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m grateful to my teammates, coaches and Eagles fans for their support, and I can\u2019t wait to hit the field again to give Madden players more highlight-reel moments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Philadelphia fans, all that remains now is to hope the fabled \u201cMadden Curse\u201d doesn\u2019t strike.<\/p>\n<p>NFL fans on X (formerly Twitter) have been reacting to the news, with many naming alternatives they believe should&#8217;ve become cover athlete instead.<\/p>\n<p>I wish he wasn\u2019t on it bc I believe in the curse but it was too perfect. 26 on 26<br \/>\n\u2014 \ud83e\udd85 RUN IT BACK\ud83e\udd85 (LIX Champs\ud83d\udc8d\ud83d\udc8d) (@RollPhillyDawgz) June 2, 2025<\/p>\n<p>How does he deserve it over Lamar<br \/>\n\u2014 bossman (@thyonlybossman) June 2, 2025<\/p>\n<p>Congrats to Saquon in advance to being the first Eagles player to break the Madden curse!!!<br \/>\n\u2014 \ud83d\udd25 CEO Branding Expert (@Ceo_Branding) June 2, 2025<\/p>\n<p>Who\u2019s the poor soul he\u2019s hurdling<br \/>\n\u2014 VGhostface Killa \ud83d\udc1d (@VGKBetta) June 2, 2025<\/p>\n<p>Shoulda been my guy CJ Stroud smh https:\/\/t.co\/iFbM5RMVit<br \/>\n\u2014 Duv-ALL Sports Cards &amp; Collectible\u2019s (@DuvALLsports) June 2, 2025<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EA Sports has named Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley the cover athlete for Madden NFL 26, honouring a landmark season that included a Super Bowl title, 2,005 rushing yards and a viral moment that seemed lifted straight from the video game itself. Barkley, 28, is only the ninth player in NFL history to surpass [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}