The History of the Madden Curse

Perhaps the most highly anticipated video game every year is the Madden NFL series from EA Sports. For more than 20 years, this franchise has been an undeniably big hit. Every year, the EA Sports team visits the NFL draft in order to get head-shots of the new players in their new uniforms as soon as possible. The game has become so popular that tournaments where professionals play head-to-head for loads of money have made it onto television for our viewing pleasure. 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.

 

You might also think that players are honored and delighted to be featured on the game's cover. 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.

 

The Madden curse made it's mark again in 2009. For the first time in the series' history, two players graced the cover of Madden NFL 10. Both teams from SB 43 are acknowledged, with Troy Polomalu of the Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. Troy Polomalu was injured in the Steelers' very first regular season game against the Titans. He didn't return.

 

You'd think that the NFL would have leraned it's leason 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. Histroy has taught us that the negative effect of being on the Madden cover, for whatever scientific or non-scientific reason, is a real thing.

 

The History of the Madden Curse:

 

2002: Daunte Culpepper, QB, followed up his 2000 NFC championship appearance by leading his team to a 5-11 season, and missed the final 5 games of the season with an injured knee following his fateful appearance on the cover of Madden 2002: he hsan't recovered yet.

 

2003: Marking the beginning of the end of the "Greatest Show On Turf", Marshall Faulk of the Rams failed to rush for 1,000 yards in the 2001 season (for the first time since 1996) following his appearance on the cover of Madden 03 and his subsequent nagging ankle injury.

 

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.

 

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