Prior to the unveiling of the cover, the Undefeated's Aaron Dodson caught up with Jackson to talk about the Tecmo Bowl days, how Mut 22 coins Bo Knows came to life in his Madden return, and much more.

This conversation has been edited to improve clarity and to length.

What does it mean for you to finally become an athlete who covers the game, 35 years after the time your career started?

This has been in preparation for a long time. It was time to get it suitable for my business. I worked with the Madden people to get things sorted out, complete all the i's cross all the t's -when we had that done, everything else was just going for it. I realized that somewhere in my life I had done something right to be seen as one of the iconic athletes of more than 30 years ago. Madden believes that enough of me to think of doing something like this.

Your game's legacy on video dates to 1989, when you became the star of Tecmo Bowl. What was it like watching yourself on the screen back then?

I still see myself still in Tecmo Bowl. I still have this video game. I still have the device to play it on. But it's hidden in a container somewhere in storage. It's iconic. It really makes me happy knowing that I've heard grown men in their 40s , saying, 'Hey, my cousin and I got into the most intense struggle of our life because we each wanted to be in Tecmo Bowl when we were young. Our parents saw us fighting in the game and my dad locked the game in his tool cabinet. We couldn't play with it for a while because the fighting was intense. I hear that often. When I attend the sports memorabilia exhibitions, there are people who come up with the video game. They tell me, 'I've had the machine to play it on. My kids play it. My grandkids love it ... and everyone still debates about who's gonna end up being Bo Jackson.' Tecmo Bowl ... that was a lot of tech at the time. If you look it up now and you think, "Wow it's an old-fashioned.'

Have you never played Tecmo Bowl?

I have not played Tecmo Bowl. That's the real truth. I have watched people engage in it often. However, I was aware of what I could accomplish. I was aware of about what Tecmo Bowl man could do. It is a pleasure for me to listen to people compliment me on the field from that game.

The first part of your videogame return to Madden will be celebrating Nike's iconic Bo Knows campaign. Let us go back to the beginning. How did the brand introduce the idea to Bo Knows to you?

We found Bo Knows accidentally. Directors, writers, and sketchers We were sitting on the couch discussing some storyboards for our next shoot. We wanted to cut it down since it was quite long. Everyone was offering their opinions about this or this. I just said, 'Why don't we do this? ... How should we shift this over here, place this together, and take out five or six second?' And they glanced at me then said 'Wow. That's probably a good idea. A person across the table glanced at me and said "Bo Knows!' and it stuck. There was no one who sat and struggled with buy Madden nfl 22 coins their minds or stayed up late in search of that catchy slogan. It happened while sitting at the table at war, discussing shots.