Will Madden Curse Finally Be Broken?
Jeffrey Gearhart |Apr 29,2008
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 Will Madden Curse Finally Be Broken?
Call it what you will, one sports issue develops every year that we can make our speculations. For those of us football geeks, we pay close attention to it. We all like to brag about our favorite player or team about how well they did, what record they broke, or just to cause a little friendly rivalry with our closest friends. What better way to brag about our player than gracing the cover of a magazine, or the front page of the sports section, or even the cover of a cereal box. There is, however one cover most of us dread our favorite player embellish. That cover is the ever so popular video game of Madden football, with its ill-fated myth labeled as "The Madden Curse".
Why wouldn't we want our favorite player to grace the cover of a video game, seen by millions of people around the world? Let us just look at some of the athletes that have graced the cover over the last eight or so years and the end result. (Note: The year of the game is one more than the football season played, i.e. the 2000 cover is for the 1999-2000 season.)
Athletes started gracing the cover of Madden primarily with the 2000 cover. With the 2000 cover, it featured John Madden with Barry Sanders in the background. We all know the Barry Sanders story, right? Sanders abruptly retired well before the start of the 1999 season, so there was enough time to substitute a different cover on shipments that went out later. Dorsey Levens, of the Green Bay Packers was subsequently chosen to replace Sanders on the package. Even though he had a decent season in 1999, he did suffer from a previous knee injury and the Packers, coming off three straight NFC Championship Games and back-to-back Super Bowls; they finished with an 8-8 record and failed to make the playoffs. Levens eventually was released after the 2001 season.
Beginning with the 2001 cover, the namesake of the game was no longer featured on the front. Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George had the proud distinction of being the first athlete to be solely featured on the cover. Coming off a run to the Super Bowl the previous year, George had a great season with the Titans. However, a bobbled pass by George, that led to an interception returned for a touchdown, ended the Titans season in the divisional round of the playoffs. The following season, George was hampered by injuries and he failed to run for 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.
The 2002 cover featured Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game the previous season. However, in 2001 the Vikings sputtered to a thwarted 4-7 record before Culpepper suffered a knee injury and missed the final five games of the season (the Vikings would finish at 5-11).
Marshall Faulk of the St Louis Rams, coming off two Super Bowl appearances in the previous three years, became the 2003 cover athlete. Plagued by an ankle injury in the 2002 season, Faulk failed to produce, falling under the 1,000-yard mark after four straight 1,300+-yard seasons. The Rams also failed to make the playoffs falling to a dismal 7-9 record.
The Atlanta Falcons placed the future of the franchise in the hands of Michael Vick. In 2002, Vick became the starter for the franchise and in some eyes turned the team around. He guided the Falcons to an honorable 9-6-1, and a trip to the playoffs by way of the wild card, after going 16-32 over the previous three. However, that success came to a halt when Vick suffered a fractured fibula in a pre-season game one day after Madden hit the shelves. Vick would only play in five games and the Falcons demise resurfaced falling to 5-11 on the year.
The 2005 cover featured All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens. For the first time in his career, Lewis failed to make a single interception during the 2004 season and sat out the final game with an injury. After reaching the playoffs the previous three out of four seasons, the Ravens were eliminated in 2004 with a 9-7 record. In 2005, Lewis tore a hamstring in game six and missed the rest of the season, while Baltimore struggled and dropped to 6-10 on the year.
After five straight playoff appearances, an NFC Championship, and a Super Bowl berth, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donavan McNabb was tabbed for the 2006 cover. The Eagles had accumulated a brilliant 59-21 record under McNabb. "It might be a trend, but I don't believe in the curse at all." were the words from McNabb's mouth. Oh Donovan, what have you done? Injured in game one of the 2005 season with a sports hernia, McNabb would play through the pain for another eight games. However, during a contest with the Dallas Cowboys, he was re-injured and opted for surgery missing the final seven games as the Eagles plummeted to last in the NFC East.
The Seattle Seahawks made their first trip to the Super Bowl in the 2005 season on the heels of NFL MVP Shaun Alexander. For that, Alexander was rewarded with the cover of the 2006 season. Alexander, injured three weeks into the season with a broken foot, missed the next six games. The Seahawks made the playoffs, but lost in the divisional round to the Chicago Bears. Alexander never really recovered from that and was subsequently let go from the team after the 2007 season.
Throughout his entire football career (middle school, high school, college, and pro), Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Vince Young never missed a game due to an injury. After gracing the 2008 cover of Madden, that all changed during the 2007 season when Young was injured during the fifth game of the season with a quadriceps injury. The following week he missed the game against the Houston Texans.
The 2008 game of Madden had a first-ever Spanish language version. That cover was adorned by San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo. During the 2007 season, Castillo suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of action for six games.
The 2009 cover of Madden may finally bring the "Madden Curse" to an end. In April, EA Sports announced that former Green Bay Packers quarterback and future Hall of Famer Brett Favre is the cover athlete. With the announcement of Favre retiring, how could the "Madden Curse" continue? This may or may not be a good thing. If Brett Favre is retired, he will not be on the field to be injured. He will not be at mini camps or training camp. So how could the "Madden Curse" continue if the cover athlete is not playing anymore? Let us hope the break in the "Madden Curse" holds true with this years cover. If not, what will happen to Brett Favre?
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