The Madden Curse: A History

The release of Madden 11 will be one of the most hyped and anticipated events in 2010. 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 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.

 

In the first week of the 2009 season, the Madden curse had already reared it's ugly head. Madden 10 was the first one to feature two cove athletes instead of just one. Troy Polomalu was shown head-to-head with a man he covered in Super Bowl XLIII; Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. Well, Polomalu got hurt in the very first game he played after being put on the cover of Madden, a medial collateral ligament sprain. He didn't return.

 

You'd think that the NFL would have leraned it's leason by now. Athletes are notoriously superstitious, and next time Madden comes a callin', most would be better off to just decline. If you don't believe in it yet, just take a look at all the historical evidence of a very real "Madden Curse.".

 

The History of the Madden Curse:

 

2002: QB Daunte Culpepper was honored with a Madden 02 cover appearance folliowing his team's final four appearance in 2000. He followed this up by missing the last five games of the 2001 season with a hurt knee, and his team missed the playoffs.

 

2003: As the 2003 cover athlete, St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk had an ankle injury all season and failed to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the first time since 1996, while the Rams team went 7-9 and missed the playoffs.

 

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: Donovan McNabb was honored with a Madden cover appearance after his team made it to the Super Bowl in 2004. The curse struck him next season, and the sports hernai he suffered early in the year caused him to sit out the last 7 games.

 

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