New England Patriots

Rob Gronkowski is on the cover of Madden NFL 17

Published May. 12, 2016 6:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

A tight end will appear on the cover of Madden for the first time in history this year. EA Sports eliminated the annual fan vote to determine the yearly Madden cover star, and announced Thursday that last year's finalist Rob Gronkowski will be on the cover of the game, set to release Aug. 23.

GRONK. SPIKE.

Introducing the cover of #Madden17! pic.twitter.com/iCZUwIAuYO
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) May 12, 2016

"Now, going into my seventh year and being on the cover, it's surreal," he said, rattling off the names of previous cover selections from memory. "You're joining an elite category. Just joining that category, it's something you'll have the rest of your life."

Many fans were stunned that Cam Newton, who won our cover poll last week, wasn't chosen.

How is Gronk ganna be the #MaddenCover over both @Millerlite40 or Cam Newton? Both MVPs got snubbed hard #DenverBroncos #SB50MVP
— Gabriel Alcon (@Alcon_King53) May 12, 2016