Of all the crazy superstitions in sports, one has truly stood the test of time; the Madden Curse. Over the past decade, NFL greats like Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Shaun Alexander, Donovan McNabb, Vince Young, Brett Favre, Troy Polamalu and Peyton Hillis were awarded the honor of being cover athlete for EA Sports most popular video game. Only this so-called honor doomed each of them to a certain extent the following season.
Five of the eight players mentioned above missed time due to injury the year after they were on the cover of Madden. Michael Vick, maybe the biggest victim of them all, broke his leg in a preseason game only 24 hours after Madden 04 was released. Donovan McNabb missed seven games due to injury in 2005 after he was selected to be on the cover of Madden 06. Shaun Alexander broke his foot in 2006 and missed six games following his cover on Madden 07. Troy Polamalu played only five games in 2010 because of injury after being on the cover of Madden 10. Last year’s cover athlete, Peyton Hillis, was hampered by injuries all year and his production was more than cut in half thanks to Madden 12. 
The three other players mentioned in the opening; Marshall Faulk, Vince Young, and Brett Favre, all saw their numbers decrease the following year as well. For Faulk, his cover on Madden 03 marked the decline of his career. After gaining over 2,100 yards from scrimmage in 2001, Faulk never rushed for 1,000 yards again in his career. Vince Young was awarded the Madden 08 cover after being named Rookie of the Year in 2006. His production fell off substantially in 2007 and Young has had numerous off the field issues since his sparkling rookie campaign. Even the NFL’s most decorated passer of all time had his struggles following a Madden 09 cover. Brett Favre was traded from his beloved Packers to the New York Jets in 2008 and then signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2009. Though he had a great year with the Vikings, his public perception took a hit when he was involved in a scandal with a woman from the New York Jets.
Fortunately for future Madden cover athletes, there is hope. Calvin Johnson is having one of the best seasons in NFL history for a wide receiver, putting to rest all superstitions, for now. Megatron has piled up 1,428 receiving yards in 12 games so far and is on pace to break Jerry Rice’s single season record of 1,848 receiving yards. Madden 11 cover athlete Drew Brees is another example of a player who avoided the Madden curse in spectacular fashion. Brees set the NFL’s all-time record for passing yards in a season with 5,084 yards as a member of the New Orleans Saints.
So what does it all mean? Has the Madden curse finally been lifted or is it just a fluke that two out of the last three cover athletes have managed to replicate their huge numbers from seasons past? Believer or not, it’s fascinating to look at how being on the cover of Madden has either doomed a players career or elevated it to an even higher level of greatness.
