Most likely an unknown fact.
Atari before making this football game for the 2600 approached Bill Mazer. Asking him to be the image behind the game.
Bill asked my father what he thought of Atari's proposition. He told Bill to do the game.
Bill with a full schedule at the time decided against doing it. Had he accepted Atari's offer, potentially Madden Football could have been Mazer Football.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mazer