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As cocky and arrogant as he might seem to be initially, Richard Sherman is one of the least selfish guys you'll find on the football field. Shortly before the Madden 15 cover went official, Sherman had said that he wanted his teammates from the Legion of Boom on the cover with him, but EA wasn't allowing it.
Sherman went on to say that if anyone wanted to make a petition to get the Legion of Boom on the cover, this was the perfect opportunity for it. Jason Coiner created a petition on Change.org that actually picked up a fair amount of steam. By the time the official cover was released last month, it had over 9,000 signatures.
While there was no change to the cover of the video game, EA announced on Friday that they had come up with a compromise to include the Legion of Boom. The four members of the group will be featured with Sherman on the welcome screen for the game. Normally, this screen is reserved for the cover boy, but there was such an overwhelming response from fans, EA was able to come up with a good compromise.
Learn how the Legion of Boom will be honored in #Madden15: http://t.co/YwiC4FcaqD #LOB pic.twitter.com/7QQnakfeds
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) July 19, 2014
On their website, EA explains in detail why changing the cover was unrealistic. Before the cover vote, EA would decide on next year's athlete shortly after the Super Bowl. Then, when the cover vote came into play, the athlete wouldn't be decided until the day before the NFL Draft. This year, the draft was two weeks later than normal, so you could see how EA was already under a huge time crunch. They were delivering promotional materials to retailers two months past what they were already used to, so changing the cover would have been a logistical nightmare.
The fact that there was such an overwhelming response from fans to include the entire Legion of Boom on the cover to the point where EA had to reach some sort of compromise along with a statement speaks volumes about just how passionate Seahawks fans are about not just one player, but their team. While Sherman may be the leader of the defense, he's just a piece in the Legion of Boom puzzle, so it's nice to see the whole group earn some recognition.