The ESPN Madden NFL 20 Celebrity Tournament is set to kick off, with matchups airing every day this week starting at noon ET on the ESPN app, Twitter and ESPN Esports' Twitch and YouTube channels. Below are the athletes, celebrities and ESPN personalities who round out the field. Let's take a quick look at each of them and predict how they will fare in the single-elimination tournament.
The defensive end is a veteran of nine seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He is a five-time Pro Bowler and made the 2010s All-Decade NFL team. In Madden, the debate over who would win more often -- the NFL player with not much gaming experience or the gamer with not much NFL/Madden experience -- typically goes to the player. Football sense translates well from the gridiron to the console. Depending on the matchups he faces, Jordan can do some damage in this tournament.
Read more: How to watch the Madden celebrity tourney | Rating the players in the NBA 2K tourney
Weidman told me before the tournament that he loves Madden and he had won a tournament in his hometown of Baldwin, New York, in 2002. The game has changed a lot since then, but the former UFC middleweight champion takes winning very seriously. Since social distancing began, he has been streaming pretty much every night with heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic and Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, playing Call of Duty: Warzone and sometimes Madden. One thing to watch for with Weidman is his trash talk; he is relentless and will go for the jugular. Nothing scares him, and it shows. He might come out of this tournament being voted as the most entertaining player based on his talk alone.
The former champ and Lafayette, Louisiana, native loves his Saints, and you can bet he will want to rep them in this tournament. DC loves to have fun and win, and he enjoys a great game of Madden. I can see him picking up a couple of W's, but matchups will definitely be important, especially if he sticks with New Orleans.
Apart from his gaming skills, the former Houston Texans wide receiver might be the best-dressed competitor in the tournament. His trade to the Arizona Cardinals puzzled some, even Madden itself: When multiple users tried to replicate the trade in the video game, Madden rejected it.
Hopkins was one of four players to begin the season with a perfect 99 overall score in Madden, dropping to a 98 by the end of the season. Regardless, when talking about his own play in Madden, Hopkins has said, "I'm a cheat code, can't nobody stop me, so why not, why would I play anything else?" Expect Hopkins to give us highlights as Hopkins and be one of the more exciting ones to watch in this tournament.
The Denver Broncos quarterback played five games last season, and he has said he models his game after Aaron Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers even considered the idea of bringing in Lock. This leads me to believe that if we see an NFL player picking a team he doesn't play on, it would be Lock choosing the Packers, and he might have an advantage controlling Rodgers under center. A favorable first-round matchup might still be needed to advance.
ESPN Daily newsletter: Sign up now!
Katie Nolan
One thing I can confirm, and I can only assume that this is due to Nolan pulling strings and using her respected influence, is that Tom Brady will in fact be on the New England Patriots for this tournament. Tompa Bay is on hold for at least another week. TB12 is ready for one more championship run, thanks to the host of Always Late. So, if you are a Pats fan and hope to experience one more championship with Brady, this is your chance. Nolan is a gamer, though admittedly not as much with sports sims. But perhaps the sheer power of Bradymania running wild in red, white and blue one last time will be enough to secure the trophy.
Lil Yachty
Fun fact: Lil Yachty does not in fact own a yacht. However, he loves to record music, watch TV, eat pizza and play video games. We have seen his Fortnite skills at various tournaments and celebrity events and also have watched him join esports organization FaZe Clan as FaZe Boat. Now we will have a chance to check out the rapper's prowess on the virtual field. Lil Yachty is actually a character in Madden in the Superstar KO mode. We shall see if he can run up the scoreline like "Oprah's Bank Account."
No doubt one of the favorites in the tournament, Brown has shown on stream or at past events that he is an advanced-level Madden player. And he is definitely entering this tournament to win. He does all the right things that advanced-level Madden players do in-game, from predicting a throw target for interceptions to picking and choosing specific plays that mesh with his playstyle and his players' strengths. The recipe is here for a Hollywood championship. The other thing I've noticed from Primetime Jet is that he often mirrors his opponents. If they are quiet in a game, he will follow suit. If they chirp, he is ready to fire back. If they use cheesy plays in the game, he will do the exact same thing. The Baltimore Ravens wideout has no trouble going eye for an eye and trying to throw his opponents off as a result. Hollywood is one of my picks to win here.
Growing up, Gordon loved superheroes and video games, and now he is both on the gridiron as a running back for the Broncos. Flash has the potential to be one of the most entertaining players in the tournament, with his off-the-wall tactics that will leave his opponents scratching their heads. In the past, Gordon has made side bets with his opponents, whether it's 20 pushups or making animal noises to the camera. I can only hope this happens in this tournament, as well, because I would love to see an NFL athlete, UFC champion or big-time rapper do pushups while imitating a dolphin.
Omar Raja
The House of Highlights founder is a newer on-air personality at ESPN, as well as the voice of ESPN's SportsCenter Instagram. Unfortunately, followers and engagements don't directly translate to Madden success, but I can only imagine that someone with Raja's network of people would have an expert at the ready to give him all the tools needed to succeed. At least I hope so; since we are both ESPN employees, I'm cheering for Raja (and the other ESPN representatives in this tournament, including Nolan and Pat McAfee) to go far. I want an all-ESPN final. I will celebrate while on commentary and plan the parade. This will be 100% biased announcing.
Pat "Boomstick" McAfee
For the brand! The only person to wear shorts on WrestleMania and College GameDay, McAfee not only holds 78 jobs in media but also has a past with Madden. He actually doesn't play the game very much; while growing up, his brother schooled him so badly that McAfee gave up and never picked up the sticks again. He isn't much of a gamer. I'm seriously wondering if he even knows what the buttons do. But that demon of Madden failure lurks inside of him, waiting to be exorcised. This could be Pat's moment to finally avenge that horrible loss of his youth -- on national television! We shall see if Boomstick will shock his way to a title.
Snoop Dogg
On paper, Snoop is the favorite of this entire tournament. The D-O-Double-G has been playing Madden since the very first game in the series came out in the late 1980s; that's longer than most competitors in this tournament have been alive. He plays at an advanced level -- customizing his playbooks, mixing and matching, calling audibles, the whole thing. Snoop is the real deal. He is playable in the game, he laced a track for the game and he even is a tournament organizer for his own Madden league. Snoop loves Madden, and it shows in his game. You love to see it. Give me a path to the final for the OG.
The newest wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills is another question mark in this tournament. Will he sneak under the radar and surprise us? Will he have this wealth of Madden knowledge we have never seen before? What will Diggs bring to the Madden table? We will have to wait and see.
The Super Bowl-winning tight end already knows what it takes to win and taste a championship, and he could certainly do it again here. Kelce has been playing more video games since self-quarantining due to the coronavirus pandemic, and if that includes Madden, then he will be ready to go deep in the tourney. The Kansas City Chiefs are the best team in the game, so the combination of that and him knowing his own team the best in this tournament is also a big plus. I wonder if Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill will stop by for some trash talk?
YG
Twenty of YG's songs have cracked the Billboard 200 chart, including one top 10 hit ("Don't Tell 'Em," in 2014). As far as gaming goes, YG has been known to break out the sticks with buddies from time to time. Will that be enough to tackle the field here, especially one that includes some advanced-level competitors? Time will tell.