The Chicago Bears’ star quarterback Caleb Williams was announced as the Madden 27 cover athlete on Tuesday. The overall first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft was depicted as recreating his superb mid-air pass to Rome Odunze in the Wild-card game against the Green Bay Packers on Jan, 10, 2026.
Reacting to the selection as a Madden cover athlete, Williams said it was his childhood dream on The New Heights podcast’s latest episode.
After ESports announced the latest edition of Madden NFL, the NFL world was flooded with reactions. But someone from their headquarters has no reaction. It’s their head coach, Ben Johnson.
Yes. Per an NFL insider, Ian Rapoport, second-year coach Johnson has literally no reaction to Williams’ presence on the Madden 27 cover. Rapoport reported in his tweet, “#Bears coach Ben Johnson on QB Caleb Williams on the cover of #Madden27: ‘No reaction’.” And fans are pointing at the so-called ‘Madden curse’ because of which Johnson has zero reaction to Williams.
But notably, the Madden Curse has become one of the NFL’s most enduring superstitions, with fans often linking cover appearances to injuries or disappointing seasons.
The most recent examples are the San Francisco 49ers’ star RB Christian McCaffrey, the Buffalo Bills’ star Josh Allen, and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, who were considered the victims of the curse.
McCaffrey appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 25 after a dominant 2023 campaign. And in the next season, injuries limited his availability and prompted fresh discussions about the curse. In the 2023 NFL season, he played 16 games, made 272 rushing attempts, covered 1,459 yards, and scored 14 TDs. But in the next year, zero touchdowns with four games played.
Before him, the Bills QB Allen landed on the Madden NFL 24 cover and endured an up-and-down season marked by injuries and inconsistency, although he still led the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs.
Now, with Caleb Williams on the cover of Madden NFL 27, the debate has resurfaced once again. Unlike previous cover athletes, Williams is entering only his third NFL season and is expected to be the face of the Bears’ rebuild under head coach Johnson. That is why Johnson’s simple “No reaction” response drew attention.
Additionally, several stars have challenged the narrative. Mahomes appeared on the covers of Madden NFL 20 and Madden NFL 22 and went on to win multiple Super Bowls. Also, the Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson remained among the league’s elite quarterbacks after gracing Madden NFL 21.
With Williams now featured on Madden NFL 27, the long-running debate has resurfaced once again among NFL fans. But the Bears QB looks calm and composed, even though he is aware of the Madden Curse. He recently said it was his dream come true to appear on the cover.
“Childhood dream, man,” Williams said on the New Heights podcast. “Mike Vick being on the cover, John Madden covers and these different things. It will go up for sure. It’s probably gonna be one of the newer trophies for me, being able to put it up right next to all these other cooler trophies I have. Like I said, dreams come true. They’ve never had two back-to-back, so let’s see if we can… That’s my thing. Let’s see if I can go and make it back-to-back this year.”
Williams appeared in the playoffs this year for the first time in his two years in the big league, and that is also with head coach Johnson’s first year as an Apex coach of any NFL team.
Now the 2026 NFL season is on the horizon, and less than 100 days are left to kick off the game. Let’s see how this year goes for the Bears QB. Will he be able to challenge the Madden Curse?