Ray Rice is one of 32 contenders in the running to become the cover athlete for EA SPORTS Madden NFL 12. 
Through April 27, fans can participate in a bracket-style voting campaign on www.ESPN.com/MaddenVoteand choose among 32 candidates, one representative from every NFL team, to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 12. Fans’ votes will determine which NFL players advance through the seeded bracket, culminating in the reveal of the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete winner on April 27th at 4pmET on ESPN’s "SportsNation".

However, as a Baltimore Ravens fan, I implore you not to vote for Rice to be on the Madden 2012 cover. Please do not cast your vote for him and if you do choose to vote and perhaps you absolutely should, vote for any player other than Ray Rice. The 'Madden Curse'is something us Ravens fans want nothing to do with and to have it affect our team, much less Rice, is a horrific thought that we should avoid at all costs.

Look at the list of players on other team and vote for one of them to be on the cover. In fact, better yet, cast your vote for the Pittsburgh Steelers' Hines Ward, who not only is the Steelers' representative in this cover vote, but also currently on the hit TV show, 'Dancing WithThe Stars.' Wouldn't it be just awful if Ward gets the cover and then gets hit with the curse along with that?