When I first heard of the Madden Curse I was watching one of those sports specials on ESPN with my Dad. What made the curse interesting to me was the fact that it was too unbelievable to be true. Almost every player who has appeared on the cover of the Madden game has had something bad happen to them. To me this was worth looking into.
The Madden curse supposedly began in 1999. You see, prior to this year John Madden appeared on the cover of his games. When 1999 rolled around, it was decided that Garrison Hearst of the San Francisco 49ers would appear on the cover on the games sold in countries besides the United States. Hearst went on to suffer a terrible ankle injury that took him out for two full seasons. Seems like an isolated incident right? Nothing was out of the ordinary, Hearst just suffered a terrible injury.
The next year, Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions was announced as the cover athlete for the game. Then, he announced that he was going to retire. Apparently, this was an unexpected and upsetting exit for fans. In response, the people at EA sports then selected Dorsey Levens of the Green Bay Packers. The season after the cover would end up being Levens's last on the starting roster of the team. So far there were three incidents total, two injuries, and one sudden retirement.
The Tennessee Titan's Eddie George graced the cover of Madden NFL in 2001. George was a Heisman winner and known as one of the most hard-working players in the NFL at the time. He even went on to rush 1200 yards. Nonetheless, a botched pass by George led to a loss against the Baltimore Ravens. This ended the Titans's fantastic season. George did continue to play for four more seasons, but he never managed to hit the records that he had set previously.
Well on the bright side at least he didn't get injured.....
2002 was the first year that the Madden curse was referenced when talking about a player's usually poor performance after appearing on the cover. This year Daunte Culpepper of the Minnesota Vikings appeared on the cover. He ended up suffering a knee injury that caused him to miss the rest of the 2001 season. In 2003, Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams was announced as the next cover athlete. This was the beginning of the end for Faulk. His yardage totals continued to decline until he missed the 2006 season because of surgery to his knee. He never returned to the NFL.
Before he played on the Philadelphia Eagles, Michael Vick became the next cover athlete for Madden in 2004. At that point, he was still playing for the Atlanta Falcons. Unfortunately, Vick injured his fibula and ended up missing the first 11 games of the season. 2005 was the year that Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens was on the cover. During the 2004 season Lewis (who was usually a reliable player) could not record a single interception. In addition to this, the season after that Lewis tore his hamstring.
Do you believe that the curse is real? Are you still on the fence? Do you need more evidence? Well keep on reading then.....
In 2006 Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles was announced as the next cover athlete for Madden. McNabb was on track to have a great season, but a groin injury put a stop to that. Then the season after that he tore his ACL and meniscus in his right knee. He eventually left the NFL in 2011. The Seattle Seahawk's Shaun Alexander appeared on the cover the next year. Alexander then went on to suffer a fractured wrist, sprained knee, and sprained ankle. What was unique about this case was that Alexander even addressed the question of the Madden Curse by saying: "Do you want to be hurt and on the cover, or just hurt?"
That's a valid question. Does being on the cover of Madden NFL lessen the blow of getting hurt?
In regards to the 2008 cover, the organization had actually asked LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego Chargers) to appear. This prompted a good number of fans of the Chargers to protest out of fear of the Madden Curse. In the end Tomlinson declined the offer, citing contract issues. That's when EA sports decided to approach Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans. Young accepted the offer and even scoffed at the Madden Curse. Then, during the 2007 season, Young injured his quadricep. This would be the first time that he ever missed a game due to injury. He returned the next season, only to re injure himself. Luis Castillo of the San Diego Chargers was asked to be on the cover of alternate versions of the game. Not even he was safe. He ended up missing most of the 2007 season because of a knee injury.
The Madden Curse struck again the next year after Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers was named the 2009 cover athlete. Now, the thing about Favre was that he had already retired by the time that Madden had announced its plans to have him on the cover. Although, as soon as the cover came out Favre returned to the league as a New York Jet. He had an okay season, only to experience a right shoulder injury that would never truly recover. He eventually left the NFL for good in 2011. 2010 was a year where not one, but two athletes appeared on the cover. These athletes were Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals and Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fitzgerald didn't really have any problems with the Madden Curse and generally had an okay season. He did suffer a rib injury the next year though. Polamalu, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He would go on to injure his MCL and then injure his posterior cruciate ligament later in the season.
That had to suck.
Drew Brees of the New Orlean's Saints appeared on the 2011 cover and had his worst season to date. Although he experienced no injures. In 2012 Peyton Hills of the Cleveland Browns was announced as the cover athlete. He encountered physical problems such as a strep throat and an injured hamstring. His season was lackluster overall and eventually he was released by the Browns the next season. 2013 cover athlete Calvin Johnson (Detroit Lions) is a prime example of why there are people who say that the Madden Curse doesn't exist. Following his cover announcement, Johnson went on to break and set records. Being on the cover did not stop him from being one of the best receivers in the game.
Seems like the Madden curse was broken in 2013.
The Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson became the 2014 cover athlete. Unfortunately, his season was plagued with lackluster performances that would eventually lead to an aggravated foot injury. Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks also got off relatively easy. The only significant thing that happened to him was that the number of his interceptions dropped from eight to four within a year. The next cover athlete was Odell Beckham Jr of the New York Giants. He also managed to get past the Madden Curse relatively unscathed. This year's cover featured the New England Patriot's Rob Gronkowski. At this point, it's too early to know if the curse will effect him.
Now that you have all of the information and history in front of you: what do you think? Is the Madden Curse real or is this all just a giant coincidence?
