Madden is one of the most look-forward-to releases on xbox and PS3 every year, and this year is no exception. This renowned franchise has been a phenomenon for the past 21 years. Every year, the EA Sports team visits the NFL draft in order to get head-shots of the new players in their new uniforms as soon as possible. The game has become so popular that tournaments where professionals play head-to-head for loads of money have made it onto television for our viewing pleasure. You may have also heard the term "Madden Holiday"...and it just goes to show how incredibly popular it has become.
Amidts the excitement of the game's release, it can be slightly bittersweet for some players, namely those who get rated badly and, above all, the one who graces the game's cover. 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.
In the first week of the 2009 season, the Madden curse had already reared it's ugly head. For the first time in the series' history, two players graced the cover of Madden NFL 10. Troy Polomalu was shown head-to-head with a man he covered in Super Bowl XLIII; Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. In the Steelers' first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans, Polamalu suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain while blocking a field goal. The Steelers had to play the rest of the season without their star defensive player.
One would imagine teams and players would have learned their lesson by now. Athletes are notoriously superstitious, and next time Madden comes a callin', most would be better off to just decline. Whether you're just as superstitious, you can't deny the historical evidence of the Madeen curse's negative impact.
Some Hisrotical Examples:
2002: QB Daunte Culpepper was honored with a Madden 02 cover appearance folliowing his team's final four appearance in 2000. He followed this up by missing the last five games of the 2001 season with a hurt knee, and his team missed the playoffs.
2003: After gracing the cover of Madden 03, RB Marshall Faulk played the whole 2002 season with a hurt ankle and missed the 1,000 rushing yard mark for the first time in 6 years while his team rounded out the season with a 7-9 record, which wasn;t good enough for a playoff appearance.
2004: Atlanta Falcons franchise QB (and a Madden player's favorite QB at the time) missed the entire 2003 season after gracing the cover of Madden 04. His team finished 5-11 (missing the playoffs of course) without him.
2006: Donovan McNabb was featured on the cover of Madden 06, and in week one of the 2005 season, you guessed it, Donovan McNabb suffered a hernia. It plagued ihim all season, and he eventually missed the last 7 games of the season.
That evidence is hard to refute. So, how will Drew Brees fare against the msyterious and enignmatic "Madden Curse?"
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