Madden is one of the most look-forward-to releases on xbox and PS3 every year, and this year is no exception. For more than 20 years, this franchise has been an undeniably big hit. It's right there for the annual NFL Draft, creating shots of players on their new teams almost instantly. Along with the game's popularity has grown a huge pro gaming industry, and now the world's top Madden players can make a living playing in tournaments or even just online. There is no other anuual release of any tyoe that demands the attention of Madden -- and the devotion, as bceomes clear when thousands of people take the day off work.
For all the good that comes with the hype and hysteria of Madden NFL, there is a downfall to the game's yearly release. For the 12 years Madden has been boasing an annual cover athlete, those athletes chosen seem to either play poorly that year, or suffer serious and season-ruining 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. In 2009, there were two players on the cover for the first time in the franchise's history. Both teams from SB 43 are acknowledged, with Troy Polomalu of the Steelers and 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. Without their defensive captain, the Steelers struggled, ceding the AFC North division title to the Bengals.
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.
Notable instances of the Madden NFL 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: The Madden Curse struck for the third year in a row in 2003, when star QB Michael Vick missed the entire season due to a fractured fibula he got in a preseason game.
2006: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was coming off a Super Bowl appearance, in which his team lost to the New England Patriots. But as the Madden NFL 06 cover athlete, his 2005 was destined for disaster and he suffered a sports hernia in the first game and ended up shutting down for the last seven games of the season.
You might not be superstitious, but it's hard to deny the evidence.
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