Terrell Owens was recently announced as the cover star of Madden 19’s Hall of Fame edition, which coincides with the controversial wide receiver’s induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame later this year. The image shows Owens in a Dallas Cowboys uniform with his arms extended, most likely celebrating a catch of some kind. This image immediately brings a multitude of questions to mind, but most importantly, why is Owens in a Cowboys uniform here?
A History Lesson
Owens was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers out of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Known for his elaborate touchdown celebrations and flashy play, he tallied seven of his 16 seasons with the team before being initially traded to the Baltimore Ravens due to a myriad of flare-ups with teammates, coaches, and front office personnel. The Ravens deal fell through and Owens eventually signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004. Owens was part of the Eagles team that reached Super Bowl XXXIX, where they lost to the New England Patriots. The Eagles also grew tired of Owens, after a number of public comments made about Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and his postulating for a new contract, and released him. Owens then signed a three-year deal with the Eagles’ divisional rival Cowboys. Despite leading the league in touchdown receptions in 2006, and Owens posting over 1,000 receiving yards in three consecutive seasons with the team, the Cowboys never won a playoff game with Owens on the team, and in fact missed the playoffs in 2008, which would prove to be Owens’ last year in Dallas. Owens then bounced around to a few teams (Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, and even the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League) before hanging his cleats up for good in 2012.
If you’re keeping track, that means Owens is being featured in not only the uniform he was (arguably) least successful in, but the main rival of the team that just won the Super Bowl.
For The Birds
In case you missed it, the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII in 2018, the first in the franchise’s history. The Eagles possess one of the most die-hard fanbases in football (which, in all transparency, I am a part of) and their spending habits reflected just how much this championship meant to them:
If they’re buying shirts, cups, mugs, blankets, etc., then why wouldn’t they buy a video game with their team all over it? Plus, it would fit with the general tradition of having a representative of the Super Bowl-winning team on the cover of the game, of which the past two editions of the game and three of the last four Madden covers have possessed. Plus, there were a number of potential tie-ins that special editions of the game could have featured (“Philly Special” Edition, “Underdog” Edition) that were instead cast aside in favor of the “Hall of Fame” edition. Which would still make sense to tie into the Eagles, especially because they have a pretty important guy going into the Hall of Fame.
Beloved Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins was inducted into the same Hall of Fame class as Owens, but there’s no cover for him. Which is, quite frankly, offensive, considering he’s one of the greatest Madden athletes of all time and was even featured on the Madden All-25 team for the series’ 25th anniversary (which, by the way, Owens isn’t on.) This would’ve been the perfect storm for the Madden series - one of the great Madden stars of all time gets inducted to the Hall of Fame the year his team finally wins a Super Bowl.
But here, EA drops the ball (like Dez did!) and it’s not the first time there have been unfavorable results to an Eagles Madden cover.
Some Time Ago…
Yes, EA rewarded an Eagle, Donovan McNabb, the cover of Madden 06 after a trip to the Super Bowl the year prior. He was also rewarded with a season-ending injury and one of his worst years as a professional that year, which chalked up yet another victory to the Madden curse. But I’m referring more to a later year, the magical year of 2012.
In 2011, EA held a March Madness-style bracket featuring a representative of all 32 NFL teams battling it out, with the cover of Madden NFL 12 as the grand prize. The Eagles’ representative was the resurrected Michael Vick, which came after just under two years in prison on dogfighting charges.
Please understand, what Mike and his partners did to those poor dogs was absolutely disgusting and abhorrent, and should never be forgotten, but the man served his time and came out of prison changed for the better, as far as I’m concerned. Vick has not had any legal trouble since coming out of prison and has been involved with a number of anti-dogfighting campaigns since. Put yourself in Mike’s shoes - wouldn’t you want a second chance to make things right?
Now, back to (virtual) football. Vick stormed through his side of the bracket, making the finals against a barely-known running back named Peyton Hillis, then of the Cleveland Browns. Hillis came out of nowhere the season before and helped the Browns to a rousing 5-11 record, which would get him the key to the city these days. Hillis defeated Vick in the finals, securing 66 percent of the fan vote. This victory was no doubt inspired by Vick’s criminal past, but I’ve speculated Vick’s status as an Eagle played a part in his defeat, as well as Mike’s Madden past as well. But to be fair, if you’re going to have someone appear on the cover of the game twice, though, why not the mightiest Madden athlete of all time?
I’m not alone here, either. Eagles fans have been vocal about their frustrations surrounding Owens’ cover appearance:
But What About the Niners?
Look, I can forgive EA Sports for not including Owens in an Eagles jersey. He only played about a year and a half for the organization, and that same Owens was already featured on the cover of NFL 2K5, the game that had EA shaking in its boots enough to purchase the exclusive rights to the NFL license more than a decade ago. But what about the 49ers? Owens will more than likely go into the Hall as a 49er, so what sense does it make to put him on the cover as a Cowboy?
The answers, more than likely, are 1: a cash grab by EA. The Cowboys are the most valuable NFL franchise and make more money than any other team by a wide margin. They figure that the only people who would spend more money on this game than Eagles fans are Cowboys fans (and, I mean, it’s not like they’ve had much to spend their money on in the past three decades.)
2: TO doesn’t want anything to do with the Niners and, as r/49ers user JoseJimenezAstronaut points out, they don’t want anything to do with him:
Potential Hope For the Future?
In fairness to EA, they still haven’t released the generic cover star of Madden 19, which could turn out to be a Philadelphia Eagle, rendering this whole article moot. I know Madden is the only game in town and the games have gotten better from where they were a few years ago, but having to stare at Terrell Owens in a Cowboys uniform doesn’t help me ignore the game’s shortcomings like staring at Brian Dawkins would’ve. The amount of missed opportunities that have taken place here deserved some lashing out, especially from someone who’s loved the Philadelphia Eagles his entire life. If they need a shot, I've got the perfect one for them:
Then again, maybe we don't want the Madden curse anywhere near this magical Philly run, especially near our beloved St. Nick.
For more about Madden, check out our interview with Echo Fox Pro Madden player Joke and how he got his spot on the team.