Caleb Williams wants to trademark the nickname of one Basketball Hall of Famer, but he wants to be like another.
Williams, who has said he didn’t know George Gervin was the original “Iceman,” paid homage to the greatest athlete in Chicago’s history, Michael Jordan, on the standard cover of Madden NFL 27. The cover, which features Williams’ fourth-down jump pass in the comeback win over the Packers in the wild-card round, asked EA Sports to add the Chicago skyline behind him.
The original 1985 Air Jordan campaign poster showed the Bulls star midair with the sun setting over the Chicago skyline behind him. The Bulls won six championships from 1991-98.
“That’s the position I want to be in, but I also wanted to pay respect to MJ,” Williams said Thursday at the EA Sports season-opening event, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “It was more of a respect thing. Bringing retro back, not letting people forget that and doing it on my side of the world of football. Paying respect to that and him and what he was able to do in Chicago. Just honestly wanted to bring that energy, that vibe back.”
Williams has yet to meet Jordan, but said a meeting is “in the works.”
Williams joins Saquon Barkley, Josh Allen, Christian McCaffrey, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and Lamar Jackson as a Madden NFL cover boy. Only Mahomes and Brady have graced the cover more than once, a feat Williams hopes to achieve.
Being on the cover used to bring with it the so-called Madden Curse, with Garrison Hearst, Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick and Shaun Alexander among those to have a decrease in on-field production or an injury in the ensuing season they were the face of the video game series.
Mahomes, though, won a Super Bowl the first time he was on the cover.
Williams isn’t afraid.
“No more of this Madden curse,” Williams said. “We’re going to go out and do all the things we need to do, stay healthy, do all the things we need to do study film and be prepared each week, and go out there and handle business.”
The deluxe edition of Madden 27 features Williams in a white jersey with falling snowflakes in a nod to the “Iceman” nickname he hopes to take over from Gervin.
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