The Madden Curse

Probably the most anticipated xbox game of 2010 is the new Madden. This renowned franchise has been a phenomenon for the past 21 years. The team behind Madden even attends the NFL Draft every year in order to get headshots of rookies in their NFL uniforms as early as humanly possible. The competetive side of the phenomenon has grown too, and now hundreds of pro Madden players make tons of money playing in tournaments. There is no other anuual release of any tyoe that demands the attention of Madden -- and the devotion, as bceomes clear when thousands of people take the day off work.

 

Amidts the excitement of the game's release, it can be slightly bittersweet for some players, namely those who get rated badly and, above all, the one who graces the game's cover. Since Madden gave up the game's cover appearance starting with the 1999 installment for a different annual cover athlete, that player has suffered from poor play or injury, leading to the belief that there is a Madden NFL curse.

 

In the first week of the 2009 season, the Madden curse had already reared it's ugly head. Two players made their way onto the cover of Madden 10 for the first time ever. Defending Super Bowl Champion safety of the Pittsburgh Steelers Troy Polamalu goes head-to-head with one of the men he covered in the big game last February, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. In the Steelers' first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans, Polamalu suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain while blocking a field goal. He missed the rest of the seson.

 

One would think that everyone in the league would have learned to avoid Madden by now. When EA Sports comes calling, it's probably in everybody's best interest to decline the offer regardless of how prestigious and financially rewarding the opportunity might be. As history has shown, going on the Madden NFL cover is almost guaranteed to affect a player, and probably his team, negatively.

 

Some Hisrotical Examples:

 

2002: Second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper graced the cover for 2002, but was only able to follow-up an NFC Championship appearance the previous year by missing the final five games of the 2001 season with a knee injury as the Vikings missed the playoffs with a 5-11 record.

 

2003: After being featired as the Madden 03 cover athlete, Rams' running back Marshall Faulk played the whole 2002 season with a naggin ankle problem, and didn't reach his full potential. He failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time in 6 years, and the Rams finished the season 7-9. missing the playoffs.

 

2004: The Falcons finished 5-11 in 2003 when their youg star dual-threat QB missed the entire season due to injury. Guess what? He had been featured on that year's Madden.

 

2006: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was coming off a Super Bowl appearance, in which his team lost to the New England Patriots. But as the Madden NFL 06 cover athlete, his 2005 was destined for disaster and he suffered a sports hernia in the first game and ended up shutting down for the last seven games of the season.

 

You might not be superstitious, but it's hard to deny the evidence.