Madden Curse
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The Madden Curse is a mythical hex that seems to follow NFL players who appear on EA Sports' Madden NFL videogame box covers. NFL players who appear on the Madden covers have subsequently suffered coincidental misfortunes, either on or off the field. In fact, the alleged curse may have spread beyond the Madden series, to cover athletes for other EA Sports videogames.
[edit] Madden cover athletes and their mishaps
- Dorsey Levens, Madden 2000: When original co-cover boy (with John Madden himself) Barry Sanders abruptly retired just before training camp in 1999, he was replaced by fellow star NFC Central running back Levens, in subsequent releases of the game. Levens' once-stellar career with the Green Bay Packers coincidentally started to go downhill in 1999.
- Eddie George, Madden 2001: In a 2000-01 playoff game, George failed to catch a pass that was then intercepted and returned for a touchdown by the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens' Ray Lewis. His performance and durability also began to decline.
- Daunte Culpepper, Madden 2002: Culpepper's 2001 season was cut short by a knee injury and his team, the Minnesota Vikings, suffered a losing season one year after making it to the NFC Championship Game.
- Marshall Faulk, Madden 2003: Faulk was injured during the 2002 season, and has not had a 1,000-yard rushing season since.
- Michael Vick, Madden 2004: Vick broke his right fibula during a 2003 preseason game and appeared in only five regular-season games, as the Atlanta Falcons, a 2002 playoff team with Vick starting at quarterback, went 5-11 in 2003.
- Ray Lewis, Madden 2005: Lewis finished the 2004 season without an interception as the Ravens failed to make the playoffs. (In 2003 the Ravens won the AFC North division and Lewis had six interceptions.)
- Donovan McNabb, Madden 06: McNabb sustained a sports hernia and a groin injury during the 2005 season, ultimately electing to cut that season short by having surgery for the hernia - all the while engaged in a running feud with troublesome teammate Terrell Owens. All of these factors contributed to a disappointing season for the Philadelphia Eagles, who had narrowly lost Super Bowl XXXIX the previous season.
- Shaun Alexander, Madden 07: Alexander suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot and has been proclaimed "out indefinitely" before Week 4's slate of games. Maurice Morris and Mack Strong are expected to pick up the slack. Updates to follow.
[edit] Beyond Madden
Even some cover athletes for EA Sports titles outside the Madden NFL series have also seemingly fallen victim to the curse. Some notable examples include:
- Dany Heatley, NHL 2004: Heatley, then of the Atlanta Thrashers, appeared on the original cover for this game. Shortly after the game's release, Heatley was seriously injured and his passenger, Thrashers teammate Dan Snyder, killed in an automobile accident in the Atlanta area. Heatley missed the entire 2003-04 NHL season (and was replaced as cover boy for subsequent releases of the NHL 2004 game), had considerable legal trouble resulting from the accident, and has since been traded to the Ottawa Senators.
- 2006 FIFA World Cup: The American release of this game featured two players, one from the Mexican national team and one from the U.S. team, on its cover. Mexico was eliminated in the second round of the real-life 2006 FIFA World Cup by Argentina, despite having scored the first goal of the match and having outplayed the Argentinians for most of the match. The highly-touted U.S. team turned in a disappointing performance (and one marred by several controversial referee calls) in the preliminary round-robin stage, and failed to advance to the second round.
- Bill Cowher, NFL Head Coach: Cowher's quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, was injured in a motorcycle/car accident a week prior to the 2006 release of this game (a spinoff of the Madden NFL series), casting his readiness, and the Pittsburgh Steelers' prospects, for the 2006 NFL season into doubt. (This accident also made Roethlisberger himself the latest apparent victim of the Chunky Soup Curse.)
