This year, EA has turned the naming of the Madden athlete into more of an ordeal than ever before. Not content to simply award the cover to one stand-out athlete, the decision was made to draw it out into a needlessly long and complicated process. Eventually, nine players will be named who EA claims are the kind of players who "fight for every yard". Last week, four were named. Today, two more players made the list.

For those of you not in the know, you're looking at pictures of DeMarcus Ware, the Dallas Cowboys' linebacker, and Matt Cassel, previously of the New England Patriots, but traded in the off-season to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ware, the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft, is a three time Pro Bowl selection and winner of the 2008 Butkus Award, an award given to the best linebacker in the NFL. In his four year career, Ware has racked up 297 tackles, 59.5 sacks, and 1 interception. His reputation around the league is as a fearsome and powerful pass rusher.

Cassel, drafted in the seventh round of the 2005 draft, started the 2008 football season on the bench, playing back-up to wunderkind quarterback Tom Brady. When Brady's knee was broken during the first quarter of the first game of the season, Cassel stepped in to attempt to take his place. He would go on to put up top-5 quarterback numbers, with close to 4000 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. After the season ended, New England slapped the franchise tag on Cassel, but ended up trading him to the Chiefs.

While they are both stellar athletes, I'm not sure that either Ware or Cassel have the kind of national name recognition needed to become the Madden cover athlete. Although there are still three names to be added to the list, I still think the strong money is on Adrian Peterson.

Anyone have any guesses as to who the last four will be?

Related Articles:

The Madden Cover Hype Begins

First Madden 10 Screenshot Arrives

NHL 09 Predicts Stanley Cup Winner