Tebowing Becomes Biggest Madden News Story Since Cover Competition

The cover voting for Madden NFL 13 generated a great deal of press and engagement from fans. Since then information on gameplay, presentation, and audio have all rolled out. What is it then that has caught the attention of the media? The inclusion of “Tebowing” of course! 

Publications immediately picked up on a low key tweet from creative director Michael Young and made it a nationwide news story. ESPN, major sports websites like Yahoo and Pro Football Talk, large newspapers and news stations, and even religion-based outlets have deemed it worthy of discussion. “Tebowing” will be featured in Madden 13 and apparently that is a big deal.

I didn’t think it was even worth discussing beyond maybe a throwaway line in the weekly Line Drive posting – but what is more interesting is the rabid nature of coverage with anything Tim Tebow related. Despite being a backup the New York media is going to exploit him at every turn and companies Tebow has a marketing relationship with – such as EA Sports – will understandably look to take advantage.

Predictably EA has now taken to capitalizing on the attention by releasing a screenshot featuring “Tebowing”. This follows up some talk of individual celebrations being included in Madden 13 such as Victor Cruz’s salsa dance, Cam Newton’s “Superman”, and Rob Gronkowski’s “Gronk Spike” – in addition to Tebow having one of the only 12 authentic cadences in the game.