Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of the eight finalists in the Madden NFL 2013 Cover Vote competition from ESPN's SportsNation. Rodgers secured 64-percent of the votes in a second-round victory over Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.
The 2011 NFL MVP will face Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice in the quarterfinals. A dream meeting between New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Rodgers was shattered when Rice secured 51-percent of the votes in a second-round upset over Brees. Personally, I think it would've been hilariously ironic if Brees were on the Madden cover with everything that's already gone down with that franchise this offseason. Aren't I cold-hearted?
My rapid reaction to this quarterfinals contest was that Rodgers should have an easy time getting into the semifinals for a potential showdown with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski or Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson. However, ESPN's Jon Robinson makes a good point with the following comment.
I'm taking @RayRice27 in an upset. Packer fans are starting to vote to avoid the curse.
Rodgers received 79-percent of the votes in an opening-round victory over Cleveland Browns defensive back Joe Haden. That approval rating plummeted by 15-percent in a second-round collision with Lynch. Gronkowski and Johnson both had greater margins of victories in their second-round contests. The other No. 1 seed, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, has earned at least 83-percent of the votes over his first-and-second-round opponents.
I think Robinson is right in his assessment that more fans will vote to avoid the curse as Rodgers advances further into the tournament. These fans are "Coming to Rodgers' defense" as they'd rather be safe than sorry. If Rodgers wants to win this competition, then he might want to spend more of his Twitter time with promoting himself and not talking about how much he dislikes Nickelback, Creed and Alter Bridge.
I'm thinking that Rodgers will advance into the semifinals with about 55-percent of the votes over Rice. However, I'm not too confident that he'll get past Gronkowski or Johnson. That's when the superstitious fans will start getting really serious in their quest to keep Rodgers off the box.
The quarterfinals will end on April 11 with the semifinals beginning on the same day. You can vote for Rodgers, Rice or anybody that you want here.
Joshua Huffman graduated from Middle Tennessee State University as a marketing major in 2009. He's been a Middle Tennessee resident from 1986-88 and 2001-present. He lived in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin from 1988-01 and for approximately eight months in 2009-10 as he completed a 20-game volunteer position with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers. His favorite sports organizations include the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cubs, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. He can be found on Twitter HERE.
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