Getty Tom Brady gets a surprise in viral Madden 22 video.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady didn’t know what was coming with being on another Madden video game cover.
Brady, who appeared in a hilarious Madden promo video, learned from an EA Sports representative that he had to wear a bubble suit to wear, again, to keep him safe for the 2021 season.
“Safe and sound on the cover of Madden with Patrick Mahomes,” Brady wrote on Twitter jokingly on June 17 following the cover release.
Brady added that, “you have no idea how long it took me to type this inside this stupid bubble.”
In the video, the EA Sports representative reminded Brady has to sign an agreement to wear protective equipment because of the Madden curse. The alleged curse came about because there have been a significant number of players who suffered injuries following their Madden cover appearance per a Sports Illustrated Fantasy.
Neither Brady nor Mahomes sustained major or career-crippling injuries in the previous years of their Madden cover appearances. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Madden 19 cover athlete, played in 15 games last season and only missed one game due to catching COVID-19.
The good news for the star quarterbacks and future Madden cover it actually takes someone invoking a curse for a curse to happen according to the Webster-Merriam Dictionary definition. Injuries, unfortunately, have been part of football long before the first edition of Madden ever hit the shelves.
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Recap of Brady’s Failed Escape From the Bubble
In the video, the EA Sports rep reminded Brady of the “Madden curse agreement” in the paperwork from the last time he appeared on the cover. Brady made the Madden 18 cover and led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl that season.
“It just entails you’ll both be required to wear custom protective equipment at all times,” the rep said as the video shows Brady flashing back to wearing a bubble suit in 2017.
“This looks ridiculous,” Brady said in the flashback before coming back to the present.
“And you just keep it on all the time,” the rep said. “Now with such a big year, with this historic duo on the cover, the goal is to keep you both safe from the curse all year.”
“That,” Brady asked, turning and looking at the aerodynamic suit behind him. “That’s sick!”
“We worked with a team of scientists to put the bad boy together,” the rep said.
“Wow,” Brady said.
“Chrome blended, aerodynamic jumpsuit. This new form-fitting material has only been used in space until now,” the rep said.
“Amazing,” Brady said.
“That’s Patrick’s suit,” the rep said. “Your’s (the bubble) is right there. You know what they say, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Your Madden 18 performance safety bubble kept you safe all year. You did lose the Super Bowl that year, (but) you didn’t get injured.”
“You’re crazy, and you’re crazy,” Brady says to the rep and assistant as he gets up to leave.
“Tom. Tom. Don’t let him get away,” the rep ordered the assistant as Brady walked away.
Five minutes later, Brady appears in the bubble suit — again.
TB12 Is Brady’s Real Bubble
Brady doesn’t rely on luck or a bubble to stay healthy. He follows a strict nutrition and exercise regiment that morphed into a side business, TB12 Sports.
“For an athlete, your body is your asset,” Brady told Michael Strahan on Good Morning America in April. “What I eat, what I drink, how I work out — all of those cumulatively add up.”
Brady hasn’t missed a game due to injury since 2008 when he tore his ACL.