EA Sports snubbed LA Rams alternative 'GOAT Edition' cover for Madden 25

The pride of every NFL player runs not only in how well they perform on the football field, but in the way that they are honored by colleagues, peers, and fans at large. Perhaps one of the underestimated honors for any football player is to have their image blazed onto the cover of EA Sports Madden Football.

After the NFL said farewell to two NFL All-Pro legends in LA Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce upon their retirement announcements this year, there was a wellspring of belief that presumed that EA Sports would honor one or both of the legendary football players by using their likeness on the cover of their very popular Madden 25 football simulation game.

Well, the decision makers at EA Sports had other ideas. And as you can see, the reception from appearing on the cover of Madden 25 certainly has made San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey quite pleased. Or in his own words, it's a "Lifelong Dream Come True!":

Of course, the news will make San Francisco 49ers fans happy as well. But was it the right choice? As long as the number of options is limited to the one choice, certainly. But the Los Angeles Rams social media account submitted an alternative entry for consideration, and I have to admit that from that new development, we cannot help but believe that EA Sports made the wrong choice.

Their option was to offer up a GOAT edition (i.e. Greatest Of All Time), and feature the image of now-retired DT Aaron Donald on the cover. I haven't played Madden in over 20 years, but even I admit that if the GOAT Edition was the official version of Madden 25, I would be tempted to buy the game and the latest gaming console to play it on.

It's that good:

Of course, why believe me? After all, you can get the endorsement of The Great One, Aaron Donald himself:

I suppose it comes down to each their own.

But whether parody or not, the LA Rams alternative cover option makes a great deal of sense. Why not commemorate the retirement of Aaron Donald by signifying his contribution to the NFL on the latest cover of EA Sports Madden 25? At the least, it would have lured former players of the game back to purchasing the game. At most, it would become such a high-volume demand for NFL collectors of memorabilia that it may have set record sales.

The opportunity to pay tribute to one of the game's modern-day best is not something that happens frequently. I believe EA Sports made a poor business decision to snub the alternative cover option of Aaron Donald for Madden 25. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section of our Facebook account.

As always, thanks for reading.