Instead of picking a cover athlete for their 24th edition of the Madden NFL video game series, the powers that be at Electronic Arts have passed the decision onto the fans, in the form of a 32-athlete bracket. One player from each NFL team was pitted in a vote-based elimination tournament, and the “winners” from second-round polling were announced today.

Michael Vick, who fronted the game’s 2004 edition, might be the favorite in this tournament, but oh look, there’s Danny Woodhead from the New England Patriots. One has to wonder if Woodhead, who had relatively easy matchups against Steve Johnson and Hakeem Nicks, has the scrappiness and deceptive speed required to blow past Aaron Rodgers. The winner would surely be favored against the Jamaal Charles/Peyton Hillis winner, and could conceivably face Vick, Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson for the right to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 12.

The full bracket is here. Enjoy it. It might be the last NFL competition we see for a while.

When Hollywood studios aren’t insulting us with films based on Candyland and Where’s Waldo?, they’re making terrible sports movies about dogs that can play football and Freddie Prinze Jr. throwing like Jim Abbott’s niece. And the latest sports-related movie idea receiving a green light is the Madden Curse. That’s right, EA is making a movie about a running joke based on coincidence. Why not?

So is this film going to be professional football’s Final Destination, as some magical force stalks elite players, ending their careers in their prime? No. Not at all. Instead, it will focus on a retired video game champion. Seriously.

Specific details concerning the plot remain sketchy, but EA VP Pat O’Brien reportedly said, “The story will follow a former ‘Madden’ video game champion who is forced out of retirement just as he finds himself on the corner of the game’s cover — and subject to the curse.” (Via Switched)

Hold on, the guy comes out of retirement because for some reason EA put him on the cover of Madden? The Madden Curse involves active players who have stellar, MVP-type seasons only to be injured the next season and never play at that elite level again. So why does the guy come out of retirement? Is he afraid that he’ll break his thumbs in a freak Call of Duty accident? Perhaps the main character could spend the entire film insisting that he’ll stay retired but then unretiring. And he can text a picture of his penis to Olivia Munn. Lord knows I’d like to.

A look back at the history of the Madden Curse after the jump…

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