Patriots quarterback Tom Brady finally achieved something that eluded him during his lengthy and successful career, landing on the cover of "Madden 18" and laughing off the curse that comes along with it. 

Part of that honor comes with a lot of media appearances relating to the game, and one of those appearances, an interview with ESPN's Ian O'Connor, revealed that Brady doesn't actually play as the Patriots when he's involved in a game of Madden.

That's because his 9-year-old son, Jack, always takes the home team and beats up on him with, well, him. Instead, Brady either plays with the Packers or the Seahawks.

"I don't like doing it," Brady said. "It does feel weird. I feel like I'm going up against my own guys that I love. Julian [Edelman] catches a pass, and I've got to tackle him. I've been Green Bay, because I like that offense. And I've been Seattle, because I love being that defense."

Guess it just depends on what kind of mood Brady is in -- whether he wants to play with a more mobile and athletic version of himself (Aaron Rodgers) or whether he wants to just relive Super Bowl 49, when Brady and the Patriots defeated Russell Wilson and Seattle at the last minute. 

Brady also emphasized that he really isn't concerned about being on the cover -- he noted that Rob Gronkowski was on the cover last year and he's "never been cursed by anything" and is in "pretty good shape." The big tight end has back problems, but Brady's hypothesis is confirmed.

And the five-time Super Bowl champion claims he never expected to have the "opportunity" to actually be on the Madden cover, so it makes it that much more exciting.

"But to be the one to represent our team on the cover, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do it," Brady said. "Personally, I think it's very cool. When it comes out, that's a topic of conversation in our locker room for weeks and weeks, even as we go into the season. ... I think I represent a lot of people when I do something like this. And only one person gets to do it every year."

Individual accolades are often put to the side when it comes to the Patriots, but Brady has received plenty of them in his career, including multiple MVP awards and a trio of Super Bowl MVP awards to boot.

It says something about the importance of the video game in the NFL culture that he treats it with such excitement. Too bad he won't ever get a chance to actually play a game with himself.