Perhaps the most highly anticipated video game every year is the Madden NFL series from EA Sports. The Madden football games took the nascent video game industry by storm, and haven't slowed down yet. In order to get shots of all the rookies in their new jerseys, the Madden development team shows up to the annual NFL entry draft. 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.
You might also think that players are honored and delighted to be featured on 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.
Last year was no exception to the Madden curse, and it made it's mark in the very first week of the regular season. Two players made their way onto the cover of Madden 10 for the first time ever. Defending Super Bowl Champion safety of the Pittsburgh Steelers Troy Polamalu goes head-to-head with one of the men he covered in the big game last February, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Troy Polomalu was injured in the Steelers' very first regular season game against the Titans. Without their defensive captain, the Steelers struggled, ceding the AFC North division title to the Bengals.
You'd think that the NFL would have leraned it's leason by now. When EA Sports comes calling, it's probably in everybody's best interest to decline the offer regardless of how prestigious and financially rewarding the opportunity might be. Histroy has taught us that the negative effect of being on the Madden cover, for whatever scientific or non-scientific reason, is a real thing.
The History of the Madden Curse:
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 quarterback and franchise cornerstone Michael Vick was selected for the 2004 installment of Madden NFL, but missed the entire season after suffering a fractured right fibula in a preseason game and watched his team finish with a 5-11 record.
2006: After taking a break in 2004, the curse was back at it for the 2005 season. Donovan Mcnabb was the cover athlete of Madden 06 and wouldn't you know, he suffered a sports hernai in week one, causing him to eventually get sidelined for the second half of the year.
That's the history of the curse. So, what will happen to this year's cover star?
No comments:
Post a Comment