Madden NFL 22 Seemingly Reveals Cover Athlete

Even though Electronic Arts typically doesn’t reveal its box art for each year’s edition of [...]

Even though Electronic Arts typically doesn't reveal its box art for each year's edition of Madden until later in the summer, it looks like the cover athlete for this the 2021 version of the game has leaked a bit early. Given the player in question's dominance in the NFL over the past few years, it stands to reason the art we're seeing is also very much legitimate.

Based on a new leak that has stemmed from GameStop, Derrick Henry, the running back from the Tennessee Titans, is set to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 22. Henry has far and away been the best running back in the league over the past couple of season and in 2020 ended up rushing for over 2,000 yards. To put into perspective why this is a big deal, it's a feat that has only been accomplished eight times in NFL history.

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The leak in particular that sees Henry attached to Madden NFL 22 doesn't seem to show the standard cover art, however. Instead, it sees Henry with a crown drawn over his head next to the name "King Henry" which is one of his nicknames. If this art is used for Madden NFL 22, it seems more likely to be for a variant edition of the game rather than the standard box art.

It's also worth noting that the leak also doesn't mention a specific release date for Madden NFL 22. The date in the image that has come about still says "TBD" for now. That being said, nearly every installment in the series tends to come out in August of each year, so we can likely plan for this window once again.

While it's worth stressing that this leak could prove to not be legitimate, GameStop has actually leaked art for sports games like this pretty often in the past. In fact, just last month the cover for MLB The Show 21 was revealed a bit early thanks to a GameStop leak as well. With that in mind, there's an extremely good chance that Henry will be the one gracing the cover of Madden this year.

Madden NFL 22 still hasn't been formally announced just yet, but it will almost surely be releasing on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC when it arrives later this year.

So what do you think about Derrick Henry potentially appearing on Madden this year? Be sure to let me know what you think either down in the comments or over on Twitter at @MooreMan12.