Madden NFL 13 cover vote pits 64 of the hottest stars head-to-head

The guys and gals over at EA Sports have joined up with ESPN for what can best be described as a possible battle royale of the NFL world. The two companies have announced a scheme that will allow NFL fans pick the next top football player to grace the cover of the 13th Madden NFL game.

This year’s competition will incorporate more athletes and more chances to vote as the field has been expanded to battle royale of 64 NFL players, putting even more control in the hands of the fans. Beginning today until the 21^st of March, fans can visit the SportsNation Facebook page  to choose among the 64 players in a play-in round (each matchup features two players from the same NFL team) to advance to the official 32-player next round.

To give your chosen one a chance to make it through to the next round EA suggest you:

Vote daily and tweet their picks using #MyMaddenCoverVote on Twitter.

As told you there are now 64 players to choose from and the star-studded list of candidates participating in the play-in round features past Super Bowl winners, perennial Pro Bowlers and some of the most popular players in the NFL including Drew Brees, Arian Foster and Rob Gronkowski. The full list of matchups featured in the play-in round are:

AFC

• Ravens-Terrell Suggs vs. Ray Rice   Jets-Mark Sanchez vs. Darrelle Revis
• Steelers-Troy Polamalu vs. Ben Roethlisberger   Bills-Stevie Johnson vs. Ryan Fitzpatrick
• Browns-Joe Thomas vs. Joe Haden   Dolphins-Reggie Bush vs. Brandon Marshall
• Bengals-Andy Dalton vs. AJ Green   Patriots-Wes Welker vs. Rob Gronkowski
• Texans-Arian Foster vs. Andre Johnson   Chargers-Phillip Rivers vs. Antonio Gates
• Colts-Dwight Freeney vs. Robert Mathis   Broncos-Tim Tebow vs. Von Miller
• Jaguars-Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Blaine Gabbert   Chiefs-Dwayne Bowe vs. Derrick Johnson
• Titans-Jake Locker vs. Chris Johnson   Raiders-Sebastian Janikowski vs. Shane Lechler

 

NFC

• Bears-Jay Cutler vs. Matt Forte   Rams-Chris Long vs. Brandon Lloyd
• Lions-Calvin Johnson vs. Matt Stafford   49ers-Vernon Davis vs. Patrick Willis
• Vikings-Percy Harvin vs. Jared Allen   Seahawks-Marshawn Lynch vs. Earl Thomas
• Packers-Aaron Rodgers vs. Clay Matthews   Cardinals-Larry Fitzgerald vs. Patrick Peterson
• Falcons-Matt Ryan vs. Julio Jones   Eagles-Michael Vick vs. LeSean McCoy
• Saints-Drew Brees vs. Jimmy Graham   Giants-Victor Cruz vs. Jason Pierre-Paul
• Panthers-Cam Newton vs. Steve Smith   Cowboys-Jason Witten vs. DeMarcus Ware
• Buccaneers-Josh Freeman vs. LeGarrett Blount   Redskins-Brian Orakpo vs. Ryan Kerrigan

ESPN will unveil the winners of the play-in round with the official seeded, 32-player bracket on the 21^st of March a dedicated “Madden Cover Vote Special” .

Apparently EA Sports expecting to see more than 13 million votes cast before a winner is chosen, so you better get voting now.

By the way some of you may have guessed from the above who i’ll be voting for.

“Who dat gonna beat dem Saints!!!!!”