The Curse of the John Madden

EA Sports has narrowed down their next victim for the 2011 Madden cover to 3 players; Front-runner Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts, and Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings. What exactly is the Madden Curse you ask? Prior to 1999 the video game series of Madden NFL Football features John Madden himself on every cover. It was during the 1999 season that a tradition of putting a prominent player from the previous years season on the cover began. That is when all the trouble started:

Madden 1999

Garrison Hearst was the original Madden cover boy. He had a great regular season but broke his ankle in the divisional playoff game vs the Falcons. Hearst would miss two full NFL seasons to start off what has become an annual phenomenon.

Madden 2000

Barry Sanders is pictured in this version of Madden and retired before training camp even began.

*Madden 2001

Eddie George escaped the curse unharmed as he rushed 403 times for 1,509 yards while playing in every game.

Madden 2002

Daunte Culpepper was the league leader in TD passes in 2000 with 33. After being placed on the cover Daunte threw for only 13 TDs and 14 INTs. He also missed the final 5 games of the season with a knee injury.

Madden 2003

Marshall Faulk had rushed for 1,000 yards in 7 of his first 8 seasons as a pro. After being on the cover Faulk never hit the mark again and missed 2 games with an ankle injury.

Madden 2004

Michael Vick broke his leg in a pre-season game. He would miss the first 11 games of the season.

*Madden 2005

Ray Lewis got away for the most part but he failed to get an INT for the first time in his career and injured his wrist in week 15.

Madden 2006

Donovan McNabb missed the final 7 games of the season with a hernia.

Madden 2007

Shaun Alexander rushed for 1880 yards in the previous year. His first 3 games produced only 187 yards and he went on to break a bone in his foot causing him to miss 6 games in 2006.

Madden 2008

Vince Young suffered a knee injury in week 3 of the 2007 season. He would be replaced by backup QB Kerry Collins who would take over as starter for the rest of the year.

Madden 2009

Brett Favre played for the Jets in his first season away from the Green Bay Packers. Favre led the Jets to a fast start (8-3) but saw the season fall apart as he threw 2 TDs and 9 INTs in the last 5 games. Favre admitted to having an arm injury after the season but he played through the pain.

Madden 2010

Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers sprained his MCL in the first half of the Steeler's first game and would go on to miss 13 games in the 2009 season. Madden 10 feautured 2 athletes on the cover, the second being Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald who escaped the curse.

Maybe you don't believe in curses and think that being on the Madden cover is no big deal. It is hard to ignore the fact that in 12 versions of the Madden game we have seen such consistent injury and decline in performance from players that appear on this cover. I can just picture Madden sitting there poking the cover with pins and needles voodoo doll style. He must have been busy in 01 and 05. Maybe this jinx is just a 12 year coincidence and players in the NFL are just subject to off-seasons and injury. No one knows for sure but taking a look at the track record...

Drew Brees may want to give Eddie George a call.