TheChez.net

By: Lundin’ Bridge

The Madden football video game has been around for about 20 years, my entire lifespan. It has been the most popular football game to have ever been created and sells more and more copies each year. Up until 1999, John Madden had always been on the cover of this beloved game. That was until EA Sports decided that they would put the previous year’s best player on that year’s cover. Sounds like a good idea. After all, shouldn’t the best player in the NFL get some recognition? Well, it hasn’t worked so well. (Please enjoy the music below as you read.)

The Madden Curse is a supposed myth among football stating that if you appear on the cover for the next installment of the Madden video game your performance will suffer that season. Now for some, this may seem like utter bullshit. How can a video game dictate the performance of a player who was just coming off one of the greatest seasons of their career? It sounds completely far-fetched. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look then shall we? Keep in mind while reading that the year the cover came out is a year ahead of current time. (Thus, the Madden 2010 cover is really covering the 2009-2010 season)

- The first year of the Maddenless cover was occupied by Garrison Hearst, though he was only on select covers. That year (1998), Hearst was outstanding, finishing third in rushing yards. That seems innocent enough. However, in the Divisional playoffs against the Falcons, Hearst severely broke his ankle, causing him to miss two full seasons in the NFL.

Well okay, that was just a freak accident. Things happen. Or do they?

- For this cover Madden is the main figure depicted. However if you look over his left shoulder, you see Barry Sanders, the best RB in the NFL at the time. When the cover was made, Sanders was still in the NFL at the peak of his career. When the cover was released, Sanders had already abruptly retired (1999). Green Bay’s RB Dorsey Levens was put on later releases but had knee trouble throughout the season.

Now, why would Barry Sanders abruptly retire after just turning 30 and having the best years of his career? He claims he retired because he was on the hapless Lions (which is understandable) but is it more than a coincidence?

- Next, we have Eddie George, the Titans running back who, along with Steve McNair, made the Titans a powerhouse. That year (2000) George did pretty well for himself until the playoffs, when he bobbled a pass against the Ravens that got intercepted and returned for a touchdown and cost them the game. Whoops.George was only average the next year and failed to break 1,000 yards. The Titans missed the playoffs after going 7-9, and George was never the same after that.

Still doubting?

- Daunte Culpepper’s turn. For a time, the Vikings were unstoppable, having Culpepper at QB with Randy Moss and Hall of Famer Cris Carter as its receivers. That all changed in 2001. Culpepper’s knee blew out after a sub-par 4-7 start and he threw for 1,300 less yards and had 19 less touchdowns  than the previous year(14 TDs – 13 INTs). The Vikings finished the year with a 5-11 record, its worst record since 1984.

Culpepper was one of the best QBs in the NFL. Not only did he have a gun for an arm, but he could scramble for yards and buy more time in the pocket. After Madden, Culpepper was never even close to what he once was and now is a washed up version of himself, sitting on the bench.

- Marshall Faulk. Super Bowl champion. Outstanding resume for a young player. The game’s best RB. And then he went downhill. After gracing Madden, Faulk  rushed for 430 less yards and had four less touchdowns compared to 2001, even though he played the same amount of games. It was Faulk’s worst season since 1996, and because of ankle injuries  throughout his career, he would never amass his once great running skills.

Yet another one bites the dust at the prime of their career. You’ll probably recognize the next fellow. Perhaps he’ll fare better?

- (Drum roll please) Hereeeee’s Michael Vick. Before we get into the dog fighting scandal, let’s take a look at 2003, a year after Michael Vick was aweing us with his play. In ’03, ONE DAY after Madden hit the shelves, Vick broke his fibula and missed 11 games. He only played 5 games and the Falcons went 5-11.

Vick had incredible promise after coming out of VT, but this injury, along with a little scuffle with some pit bulls, caused Vick to lose his magic. Who knows if he’ll ever be the same.

- Ray Lewis was the next to grace the cover. Now you may be saying yourself, well Ray is still one of the games best. However, in 2004, he had no interceptions for the first time in his career.

He may have gotten away easy, but he still was affected. And who could forget when he killed that girl and got away with it..

For this cover, Donovan McNabb got the call. McNabb was certain that he would not succumb to this well-known curse. Nice try Donovan. McNabb suffered a sports hernia in week 9 that caused him to miss the rest of the season. Not only did the Eagles not make the playoffs for the first time since ’99, but they finished in last place in their division with the record of 6-10.

McNabb hasn’t really done much for the Eagles since then and can never seem to get his team to the Super Bowl. Considering how hostile Philly fans are, he may not have much longer in the Green and White.

STILL DON”T BELIEVE ME?

- Next up, Shaun Alexander, who was coming off the best season of his career and would be the most sought after running back in fantasy football. You may remember he broke the single season touchdown record? Well in 2006, instead of breaking another record, he broke his foot. He had the lowest stats of his career since his rookie season and would later be cut by the Seahawks.

Franchise player? Not after Madden.

- After fans voted off LaDainian Tomlinson in fear of the curse, Vince Young took over as a replacement for this cover. Young threw 17 INTs to go with his 9 touchdowns, which isn’t terrible. However, Vince seemed to lose his mind during the off-season and lost his job to the elder Kerry Collins.

A once promising QB is now a mystery to the Titans.

- In honor of his famed career, EA Sports picked Brett Favre to graze the cover even though he was retired at the time. But as we all know, Brett Favre doesn’t retire. Favre led the Jets to an 8-3 record, which was good, but supposedly injured his shoulder somewhere in the middle of the season. Whatever the excuse may be, Favre absolutely sucked down the stretch and the Jets missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

Not a good idea to put a senior citizen QB on the cover with the curse going around.

- And so we come to this year. For the first time in Madden history, two players were put on the cover: Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. Would these two offensive and defensive powerhouses break the curse? Well, they’re already half way there to another cursed cover. Polamalu suffered a sprained MCL during the first game of the year against the Titans and will be out for 3-6 weeks if all goes well. Who knows how his play will suffer after his return.

Thus concludes the current facts of the Madden curse. Once a player hits the cover he most surely will suffer a setback. Some have fared better than others, but all have succumbed to the curse. Some people may still say that this is just a series of unfortunate coincidences and that the curse doesn’t exist. That may be so, but I wouldn’t want to be Larry Fitzgerald right now. And looking ahead, I wouldn’t want to be Adrian Peterson either. He may be the victim for 2011.