Every year a new Madden game comes along and the speculation begins - who’s going to be the cover athlete? Is it going to be a rookie that had an outstanding season, a veteran on the rise, or someone who just deserves their due? Along with the questions comes the odds on when the Madden curse will effect the player or the that does end up on the cover. For those of you unfamiliar with the notorious Madden Curse, it’s basically some bad ju-ju that happens to the star athlete or his team during the season that said player is on the cover.

Year in and year out athletes that have been placed on the cover of EA’s monster franchise have experienced season ending injuries, and there seems to be dark clouds that hang over the players organization.

That being said fans and fantasy football fanatics can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, as this years cover boy will be none other than the recently retired Brett Favre, formerly of the Green Bay “Cheese-heads” Packers.

The news of the cover athlete was supposed to hit the masses on April 25th, but GameDaily is reporting that an announcement will be made by Brett on Late Show with David Letterman.

Now a lot of you may be scratching your heads and wondering why Brett Favre? I mean the man did just retire didn’t he? But when you put into perspective that this years version of Madden is celebrating 20 years of existence it makes sense. Brett Favre after all does hold NFL all time records for quarterbacks in career touchdowns, passing yards, pass completions, and career victories.

Madden 09 is set to drop August 12, of this year for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and DS.