Antonio Brown is the 'Madden 19' cover athlete

Published: Jul 18, 2018 at 05:18 AM

The Checkdown's daily collection of football culture stories for July 18, 2018. This is The Extra Point.

1. Steelers All-Pro WR Antonio Brown is the cover athlete for Madden 19.

“The battle of getting better is never ending” -@AB84

Pre-Order 👉🏽: https://t.co/BkLnz185gQ #Madden19 pic.twitter.com/6dsoW5Zfgv
— Madden NFL 20 (@EAMaddenNFL) July 18, 2018

Brown is one of seven players with a perfect 99 rating in Madden 19. He's also the first player to be featured on the cover without a helmet on.

The #Madden19 cover is 🆎solutely #boomin.@AB84 | @EAMaddenNFL pic.twitter.com/gkiTkJcBl7
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) July 18, 2018

Brown says he's not worried about the "Madden curse."

"You gotta stay focused. Obviously this is a tremendous honor, you can't get caught up in worrying about what others believe," the six-time Pro Bowler told SI. "I'm extremely focused and excited to be in everyone's household, to let them see me in my Steelers uniform representing my club."

Madden 19 will be available worldwide on August 10.

2. After 11 seasons in the NFL, seven-time Pro Bowl DB Darrelle Revis announced his retirement on Wednesday morning. Revis spent eight seasons playing for the Jets and won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2014.

3. Happy National Hot Dog Day!

4. Browns QB Baker Mayfield and WR Jarvis Landry hung out with pro gaming star Ninja on Tuesday night.

Great meeting @bakermayfield and @God_Son80 pic.twitter.com/IbO0cVEkNe
— Ninja (@Ninja) July 18, 2018

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