The “Madden
Curse” is no longer a superstition. Starting as a joke years ago,
the curse has now managed to effect all 16 players to have graced a
Madden cover in some way or another.
For those
blissfully unaware, since 1998 every copy of the football video game
Madden has featured a player on it's box art. Every
single player to do so has either been seriously hurt or taken
a dramatic downturn in performance that same season.
As we are entering
into our new NFL season, I thought we should take a look back at the
Madden Curse so far, and analyze Lion Calvin Johnson's chances. As we
go into the numbers, remember Madden is labeled for which year the
NFL season will end not begin. So Madden '99 was the '98-'99 season,
and so on.
Until Madden '99
John Madden himself was on every cover of a Madden game. Then 49ers
Garrison Hearst was featured on the cover. This should have been a big
red flag, as he suffered one of the worst cases of the curse. At
first it seemed like Garrison would deliver a great year. That was
until the divisional playoff game where Hearst severely broke his
ankle. Garrison's break was so bad, he was forced out of the next two
seasons and never fully recovered.
Barry Sanders of
the Lions was the next athlete chosen for the cover, but after
receiving the honor he promptly retired never to play again. Whether
that means he was the only player to miss the curse, or his
retirement was caused by it is up to interpretation. After Sanders
abrupt exit, Packers Dorsey Levens was quickly placed onto the covers
Sanders was not already on. The Packers did not make the playoffs
that year after two back to back Superbowl wins, and Dorsey was cut
from the team the following year due to a knee injury.
2001 marked the
year Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans was selected. Eddie
actually had a career making season that year, almost proving the
already rumored curse wrong. That was until the divisional finals
match up with the Baltimore Ravens. George missed an easy pass, that
was intercepted and returned by the Ravens to win the game. This
interception cost the Titans their chance at the Superbowl. The
following year Eddie George injured his toe and barely played through
the season. For the remainder of his career Eddie would never carry
more than 3.4 yards again.
The cover was held
by Vikings Daunte Culpepper in '02. While Daunte would go on to set
an NFL record in 2004, 2001 was not so kind. Culpepper threw 13 total
interceptions in only 11 games, where his season was thankfully ended
by a knee surgery. The following year Daunte threw a whopping 23
interceptions.
Marshal Faulk got
off pretty easy all things considering. After 4 straight seasons
running over 1,300 yards for the Rams, Faulk received an injury to
his ankle, sitting out five games, and he failed to reach 1,000
yards in a season ever again.
In 2004 the Madden
curse finally became an urban legend. Atlanta Falcons quarterback
Michael Vick was openly proud to be on the cover of Madden 2004, that
is until the week Madden was released. Vick fractured his right
fibula during a preseason game missing the majority of the season.
Oh, then there's that little matter of his dog-fighting and prison
sentence.
Ravens linebacker
Ray Lewis had never finished a season without an interception until
2005. He even had a career high six interceptions in the '03-'04
season. Then he was selected to be the Madden cover star. Lewis did
not catch a single interception that year, and the Ravens failed to
make the playoffs after winning their division the previous year.
Donovan McNabb is
unarguably the worst to suffer the curse's wrath. Albeit he did bring
it upon himself. The Eagles quarterback had just led his team to the
playoffs 5 straight years, earning him the 'right' to be on the
Madden 2006 cover. McNabb then had to stare into the eyes of the
beast, publicly saying of the curse, “it might be a trend, but I
don't believe in the curse at all.”. Donovan McNabb is a stupid
man. He promptly suffered a very painful injury to his groin.
Donovan's groin injury was so severe in fact he was forced to opt for
surgery and was left out of the remainder of his season. The Madden
Curse is not afraid to hit below the belt.
The Seattle
Seahawks were coming off their best season ever, having just been to
their first ever Superbowl. A main factor in this success was running
back Shaun Alexander. His rewards were twofold. On one hand he was
given a $62 million contract, making him the highest paid running
back in history. The other was the 'honor' of being on the Madden
2007 cover. Shaun immediately broke his foot in only the third week
of the season. He was cut from the Seahawks a year later.
2008 marked an
important change in the curse for one major reason, the internet. At
this point the curse was becoming a fact, and fans were fully aware.
So when EA approached LaDanian Tomlinson to be on the cover, fans
took to the internet begging Tomlinson to refuse. He wisely chose to
side with his fans, and did not appear on the cover, going on to have
a great year. Tennessee Titans rookie Vince Young was not so lucky.
He hurt his quadriceps his first year, and then his knee the
following year. Young then lost his starting spot to Kerry Collins,
just after signing a $58 million contract.
At this point EA
was doing anything to prove there is no curse. In 2009 they cheated
and conveniently offered a retired Brett Favre the Madden cover. How
could a retired player get injured right? Favre infamously returned
from his retirement to play for the Jets that same year setting in
motion a huge mess. The curse was angry. Brett tore a tendon in his
bicep near the last five games of the season. He threw eight
interceptions, and only two touchdowns over those five games losing
to the Dolphins. This was also the season in which Brett was caught
supposedly texting pictures of his business to Jenn Sterger. When the
curse gets mad it always heads downstairs. Favre would of course
'retire' and return again to play for the Vikings the next year.
At this point, you
would think EA would have learned it's lesson. However, they once
again attempted to cheat the curse by placing two
players on the cover. If the curse were to attack, shouldn't it be
less devastating if it were to be shared? Apparently not, as
Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald was hit with a rib injury forcing him out
of the both the post season and Pro Bowl. While the other star,
Steelers Troy Polamalu, sprained his MCL and tore his posterior
cruciate ligament, sitting out most of the season.
In
classic Madden Curse fashion, it was time for payback. If EA could
place two players the previous year, the Curse could hit an entire
team the next. Drew Brees of the Saints made the cover in 2011.
Defending Super Bowl Champs, the Saints were expected to return.
However, they met failure when up against the Seahawks in the
playoffs. This does not seem like much, except the Seahawks were the
first team in history to make the playoffs after a losing season. The
best of the playoffs lost to easily the worst team to make it, in
what is probably the biggest upset in playoff history. A year later
the Saints were faced with the 'Bounty' scandal which has resulted in
multiple fines as well as the suspension of the Saints Coach Sean
Payton.
Finally
EA chose to just put their hands up in surrender to the curse. 2012
marked the first time fans were allowed to vote on their Madden
cover. Fans chose to sacrifice Peyton Hillis of the Browns to the
chopping block. Peyton left his prior 1100 yard season for a measly
587 yards. Over the year Hillis failed to reach contract negotiations
with the Browns, and suffered multiple injuries all throughout,
playing in only 10 games all season. At first Peyton was vocal that
the curse was not causing his year as it happened, but in hindsight
he has finally given in.
"Things
didn't work in my favor this year," Hillis said. "There's a
few things that happened this year that made me believe in curses.
Ain't no doubt about it."
-Associated
Press
Now
we reach 2013. Fans voted once again and put up Lions Calvin Johnson.
Calvin was responsible for 20% of all the Lions points last season,
and is now the highest paid Wide Receiver in the game at $132
million. I would say that number is just mocking the curse, begging
to be knocked down a peg. Only time will tell.
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