Barry Sanders named Madden 25 cover athlete

Former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders won ESPN's cover vote and will grace the box of EA Sports' Madden NFL 25, the publisher announced today. Over 40 million votes throughout six rounds were cast before Sanders was revealed winner on ESPN's SportsNation last night.

Sanders defeated current Minnesota Vikings halfback Adrian Peterson in the final round, taking 58 percent of the vote. During his progression to the cover, Sanders beat out high-profile NFL players like Ray Lewis, Marcus Allen, Joe Montana, and Jerry Rice.

Madden NFL 25 is currently in development at EA Tiburon for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with a release expected on August 27. The game features a new iteration of the Infinity Engine, which claims to offer "more polished physics simulation," as well as an all-new Force Impact System.

This year's installment is named Madden NFL 25 instead of Madden NFL 14 to mark the franchise's 25th anniversary. The series has sold 99 million units to date.