The release of Madden 11 will be one of the most hyped and anticipated events in 2010. This renowned franchise has been a phenomenon for the past 21 years. 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. You may have also heard the term "Madden Holiday"...and it just goes to show how incredibly popular it has become.
Amidts the excitement of the game's release, it can be slightly bittersweet for some players, namely those who get rated badly and, above all, the one who graces 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. 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 missed the rest of the seson.
One would think that everyone in the league would have learned to avoid Madden by now. Athletes are notoriously superstitious, and next time Madden comes a callin', most would be better off to just decline. As history has shown, going on the Madden NFL cover is almost guaranteed to affect a player, and probably his team, negatively.
Notable instances of the Madden NFL 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: 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.
That evidence is hard to refute. So, how will Drew Brees fare against the msyterious and enignmatic "Madden Curse?"
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