The History of the Madden Curse

Madden is one of the most look-forward-to releases on xbox and PS3 every year, and this year is no exception. The Madden football games took the nascent video game industry by storm, and haven't slowed down yet. The team behind Madden even attends the NFL Draft every year in order to get headshots of rookies in their NFL uniforms as early as humanly possible. Television programs pitting some of the most talented Madden NFL players in tournaments are shown around the world. And people are known to come up with every excuse in the book in order to get out of work on the very day the game releases - making it as close to a national holiday as the video game industry is likely to get.

 

For all the good that comes with the hype and hysteria of Madden NFL, there is a downfall to the game's yearly release. 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.

 

Last year was no exception to the Madden curse, and it made it's mark in the very first week of the regular season. In 2009, there were two players on the cover for the first time in the franchise's history. Both teams from SB 43 are acknowledged, with Troy Polomalu of the Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. In the Steelers' first regular season game, and Troy Polomalu's first after being put on the cover of Madden 10, he injured his ankle while blocking a field goal. He didn't return.

 

You'd think that players and coaches would have learned about the Madden curse 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.

 

Historical examples of the Madden Curse:

 

2002: Second-year quarterback Daunte Culpepper graced the cover for 2002, but was only able to follow-up an NFC Championship appearance the previous year by missing the final five games of the 2001 season with a knee injury as the Vikings missed the playoffs with a 5-11 record.

 

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: After taking a break in 2004, the curse was back at it for the 2005 season. Donovan Mcnabb was the cover athlete of Madden 06 and wouldn't you know, he suffered a sports hernai in week one, causing him to eventually get sidelined for the second half of the year.

 

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