The Madden Cover Athlete's Curse

Probably the most anticipated xbox game of 2010 is the new Madden. For more than 20 years, this franchise has been an undeniably big hit. It's right there for the annual NFL Draft, creating shots of players on their new teams almost instantly. The competetive side of the phenomenon has grown too, and now hundreds of pro Madden players make tons of money playing in tournaments. Millions of people take release day off work every year, and a Madden Holiday is as close as the game industry is likely to ever get to it's own national holiday.

 

For all the good that comes with the hype and hysteria of Madden NFL, there is a downfall to the game's yearly release. Ever since 1999 when John Madden started putting players on the cover instead of himself, those players seem to either perform badly or suffer serious injury.

 

Last year was no exception to the Madden curse, and it made it's mark in the very first week of the regular season. For the first time in the series' history, two players graced the cover of Madden NFL 10. Troy Polomalu was shown head-to-head with a man he covered in Super Bowl XLIII; Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. In the Steelers' first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans, Polamalu suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain while blocking a field goal. Without their defensive captain, the Steelers struggled, ceding the AFC North division title to the Bengals.

 

One would imagine teams and players would have learned their lesson by now. Players a) don't need the money and b) are quite superstitious in the best of times, so you'd think they'd just decline the offer from EA sports. Whether you're just as superstitious, you can't deny the historical evidence of the Madeen curse's negative impact.

 

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 gracing the cover of Madden 03, RB Marshall Faulk played the whole 2002 season with a hurt ankle and missed the 1,000 rushing yard mark for the first time in 6 years while his team rounded out the season with a 7-9 record, which wasn;t good enough for a playoff appearance.

 

2004: For the third year straight, the cover athlete of Madden suffered injury. In 2003, it was QB Mike Vick, who missed the entire season due to preseason injury. Without him, the Falcons went 5-11.

 

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.

 

That's the history of the curse. So, what will happen to this year's cover star?