--- description: New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will appear on the cover of the video game 'Madden NFL '17' title: Rob Gronkowski to Appear on Cover of 'Madden NFL '17' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9c8047ec42c19d3/6988930c0b72e3aa896e95d4/rtx1zi86.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NFL](/tag/nfl/) ## NFL Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski to Appear on Cover of _Madden NFL '17_ by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 13, 2016 7:46 AM CUT  New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski score a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Dec. 20, 2015 New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski score a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Dec. 20, 2015David Butler—USA Today Sports/Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 13, 2016 7:46 AM CUT New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will appear on the cover of the video game _Madden NFL ’17_ — the first player from his team to receive what has become an accolade in the realm of American sports. The news was [announced](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/%5F/id/15520923/new-england-patriots-te-rob-gronkowski-cover-madden-nfl-17 "undefined") Thursday night on ESPN’s _SportsCenter_. On the program, Gronkowski described it as a “dream come true.” “When I first found out, I was blessed,” he said. “It was a surreal moment.” Gronkowski, who turns 27 on Saturday and has played for the Patriots since 2010, was a runner-up to appear on the cover of last year’s installment in the best-selling video-game franchise. He lost out to Odell Beckham Jr., a receiver for the New York Giants. > [](https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/730880818378383360) The latest edition of the game will come out in August. \[[_ESPN_](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/%5F/id/15520923/new-england-patriots-te-rob-gronkowski-cover-madden-nfl-17 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4329017/rob-gronkowski-madden-cover/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4329017/rob-gronkowski-madden-cover/"},"headline":"New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski to Appear on Cover of Madden NFL '17","datePublished":"2016-05-13T07:46:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:31:32.187Z","description":"The 26-year-old tight end described it as a \"dream come true\"","url":"https://time.com/4329017/rob-gronkowski-madden-cover/","keywords":["NFL","Video Games","Football","New England Patriots"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9c8047ec42c19d3/6988930c0b72e3aa896e95d4/rtx1zi86.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9c8047ec42c19d3/6988930c0b72e3aa896e95d4/rtx1zi86.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NFL: Tennessee Titans at New England Patriots","caption":"NFL: Tennessee Titans at New England Patriots","creditText":"David Butler—USA Today Sports/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4329017/rob-gronkowski-madden-cover/","name":"New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski to Appear on Cover of Madden NFL '17"}}]}] ```