Saquon Barkley, in all his Kelly Green glory, will be on the cover of "Madden NFL 26," EA Sports revealed Monday.
.@Saquon hurdled his way onto the cover of #Madden26
Coming 8.14.25. Pre-Order Today.
🔗: https://t.co/zm14BbUaJf pic.twitter.com/l1QYWN0b7h— Madden NFL 26 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 2, 2025
That felt like a done deal as soon as the reverse hurdle happened and EA patched the current game, "Madden NFL 25," midseason to get the move in.
Nevertheless, Barkley becomes the first Eagle to grace the cover of "Madden" since Donovan McNabb was on it for "06," way back in the PlayStation 2 days of 20 years ago.
The star running back's turn on the front of the box also marks the fourth time ever an Eagle has been on a videogame cover, and the 20th time a Philadelphia pro athlete has been on one.
Ready for a trip down memory lane?
Here's the full rundown of Philadelphia videogame cover athletes in reverse chronological order of their respective releases, starting with the newest addition to the group (click on the highlighted title of each game to see the cover)…
• Saquon Barkley, Eagles – Madden NFL 26 (EA, 2025)
• Bryce Harper, Phillies – MLB The Show 19 (Sony, 2019)
• Joel Embiid, Sixers – NBA Live 19 (EA, 2018)
• Ben Simmons, Sixers – NBA 2K19 (*Australia Only, 2K, 2018)
• Claude Giroux, Flyers – NHL 13 (EA, 2012)
• Roy Halladay – Major League Baseball 2K11 (2K, 2011)
• Ryan Howard – MLB 08: The Show (Sony, 2008)
• Donovan McNabb, Eagles – Madden NFL 06 (EA, 2005)
• Terrell Owens, Eagles – ESPN NFL 2K5 (SEGA, 2004)
• Jeremy Roenick, Flyers – ESPN NHL Hockey (SEGA, 2003)
• Allen Iverson, Sixers – ESPN NBA Basketball (SEGA, 2003)
• Jeremy Roenick, Flyers – NHL 2K3 (SEGA, 2002)
• Allen Iverson, Sixers – NBA 2K3 (SEGA, 2002)
• Allen Iverson, Sixers – NBA 2K2 (SEGA, 2001)
• Donovan McNabb, Eagles – NFL GameDay 2002 (Sony, 2001)
• Allen Iverson, Sixers – NBA 2K1 (SEGA, 2000)
• Allen Iverson, Sixers – NBA 2K (SEGA, 1999)
• John LeClair, Flyers – NHL FaceOff 2000 (Sony, 1999)
• Eric Lindros, Flyers – NHL 99 (EA, 1998)
• John LeClair, Flyers – NHL FaceOff 98 (Sony, 1997)
By the numbers
• The breakdown of videogame covers by team from most to least: Sixers (7*), Flyers (6), Eagles (4), Phillies (3).
• The breakdown by each athlete: Iverson (5), LeClair (2), Roenick (2), McNabb (2), Lindros (1), Howard (1), Halladay (1), Harper (1), Giroux (1), Owens (1), Barkley(1), Embiid (1), Simmons (1*).
Technicalities
• The box art for NHLPA Hockey '93 does have a photo of the Flyers playing the Rangers on it, but the logos are removed because EA didn't have the NHL license for that game, and there's no actual cover star attached to it. It's not included in the count as a result, but should be acknowledged.
• Simmons was on an "NBA 2K" cover? Yes. The Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo was the cover star for "NBA 2K19" across the rest of the world, but in an attempt to make a specific appeal to Australia and New Zealand, 2K put the Melbourne-born Simmons – fresh off his Rookie of the Year win – on the cover for those territories and those territories only, which is why he's marked with an asterisk in each mention above.
Also a reminder that this exists. pic.twitter.com/tqaCgB1g12
— Nick Tricome (@itssnick) June 2, 2025
If you wanted a Sixer on the cover of your basketball videogame in the Fall of 2018, your options were to import the Australian version of "2K" at at least 1.5 times the price (like my genius mind did at the time) or buy "NBA Live 19" with Joel Embiid on the front. But let's face it, no one was playing "NBA Live" by that point.
Fun stuff
This is basically an excuse to go back and watch old videogame commercials, in some hilariously low-res now, and to note that Iverson really was the steady cover athlete for "NBA 2K" for five years straight. SEGA liked consistency, I suppose.
• Anyway, here's John LeClair's ad from "NHL FaceOff 98" with…well, I'm not really sure what that PlayStation guy is doing in the hot tub behind him:
• "Cyber Lindros" demolishing everyone for "NHL 99":
• Terrell Owens answering a "TO" call for "ESPN NFL 2K5," at a time when fans were waiting that whole summer to finally see him in a full Eagles uniform:
Remember that this game came out a full month before "Madden 2005" did, only cost $20, and to this day, is still regarded by many as the greatest football game ever made.
• The infamous "Next Gen" spot featuring a digital McNabb and the Eagles for the, at the time, yet to be released Xbox 360 version of "Madden 06":
Yes, there was a time when kids thought that was the most realistic-looking thing ever. No, the game never actually looked like that.
• For a couple of years, when the series was still around, the "MLB 2K" games rolled out a perfect game challenge that awarded a $1 million prize to the first person who could throw one on camera from the moment they booted up their console up until they hit the results screen uninterrupted.
Wade McGilberry was the first to win the contest with "2K10," and a couple of months later, Halladay threw his perfect game against the Marlins, and then in the postseason, his no-hitter.
He was a no-brainer as the "2K11" cover star, which came with the next iteration of that $1 million promotion, along with the ad that put him and McGilberry in the same room:
There was also this legendary bit with Carlos Ruiz:
Everyone misses you, too, Doc.
• EA held a fan vote to decide the cover for "NHL 13," which Giroux eventually won out thanks to the Flyer Faithful and a breakout 2011-12 season that established him as the new face of the franchise. Scott Hartnell had a career year skating on his line, too, though, and actually hung around in the cover vote for a good while.
He definitely had more fun with it:
• Harper was headed for free agency after the 2018 season, and way, way before he even signed anywhere, Sony announced him as the cover athlete for "MLB The Show 19," explaining in press materials that the cover would play a part in the reveal of his next team.
The whole winter ended up going by, spring training was already underway, and then at the very end of February, word broke that Harper signed his 13-year mega deal with the Phillies.
The cover with him in his red-pinstriped uniform, for a game that was coming out just a few weeks later on March 26, was there on display in Clearwater during his introductory press conference, but it definitely wasn't the series' most-inspired one.
The tight window between his signing with the Phillies, the game's launch, and the start of the season probably had a lot to do with that. Heck, he doesn't even have his No. 3 on the left sleeve of the jersey, because the likelihood is that Sony didn't even know what number he chose yet before they had to start printing discs.
Still, it was a Phillie on the cover, and for everyone in the Delaware Valley who endured that wait all winter, wondering if Philadelphia was going to be his choice, that's all that mattered.
• Now we're on to this week and Barkley's turn on the cover of "Madden."
EA came into town and flipped Geno's into "Steakquon's" for the week to mark the occasion.
The game itself comes out Aug. 14.
What a day. pic.twitter.com/nL6FQxwiU4
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) June 3, 2025
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