Will a Cincinnati Bengal ever grace the cover of a Madden NFL video game?

Fans are speculating that this could finally be the year following the release of Madden NFL’s latest teaser video.

In the 11-second teaser that was posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter, Madden NFL announced that it’ll be revealing the cover of Madden NFL 25 on Tuesday, June 11.

The teaser starts by showing a zoomed-in shot of a photographer at a photoshoot. About three seconds in, the EA Sports logo appears on screen, followed by a voiceover that recites the franchise’s classic slogan: “EA Sports: It’s in the game.”

The teaser then fades to black as “Cover Reveal 6.11.24” appears on screen in white text, which then flashes orange for a split second.

Naturally, this stirred up a wave of speculation on social media, as fans began predicting which NFL player will be featured on the cover of the game’s 25th anniversary edition.

Many Bengals fans believe beloved quarterback Joe Burrow will be the one to wear that crown, mainly because they think the voiceover heard in the teaser sounds like him. The orange-tinted lighting in the video is also being pinned as a clue, which, of course, ties in with the Bengals’ team colors of orange and black.

If Burrow is selected for the cover, he’ll be the first Cincinnati Bengal to have been so in the game’s history.

While some may be elated to have Burrow on the cover, others are not so fond of the possibility due to the infamous “Madden Curse.” The superstition was born after NFL fans noticed nearly every player featured on a Madden cover would go on to suffer a bad injury or play poorly that following season.

Cincinnati knows very well that Burrow doesn’t need anymore bad luck, especially since the 27-year-old is currently coming off a wrist injury that cut his season short in 2023.

Aside from the 2023 cover, which featured John Madden himself, a quarterback was picked to be on the cover of the game since 2020. That list includes Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes for 2020, the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson for 2021, Mahomes and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady for 2022, and the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen for 2024.