Probably the most anticipated xbox game of 2010 is the new Madden. Madden has been on the scene for 21 years, and pretty much everyone who is a fan of football or video games has picked it up and played. The team behind Madden even attends the NFL Draft every year in order to get headshots of rookies in their NFL uniforms as early as humanly possible. 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. And people are known to come up with every excuse in the book in order to get out of work on the very day the game releases - making it as close to a national holiday as the video game industry is likely to get.
You might also think that players are honored and delighted to be featured on the game's cover. Since Madden gave up the game's cover appearance starting with the 1999 installment for a different annual cover athlete, that player has suffered from poor play or injury, leading to the belief that there is a Madden NFL curse.
The Madden curse made it's mark again in 2009. 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. 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.
You'd think that the NFL would have leraned it's leason by now. Players a) don't need the money and b) are quite superstitious in the best of times, so you'd think they'd just decline the offer from EA sports. 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: After making it to the NFC with the Vikings in 2000, quaerterback Daunte Culpepper missed the final five games of the 2001 season (after being fatured on the cover) leading his team to a record of 5-11.
2003: Marking the beginning of the end of the "Greatest Show On Turf", Marshall Faulk of the Rams failed to rush for 1,000 yards in the 2001 season (for the first time since 1996) following his appearance on the cover of Madden 03 and his subsequent nagging ankle injury.
2004: The Falcons finished 5-11 in 2003 when their youg star dual-threat QB missed the entire season due to injury. Guess what? He had been featured on that year's Madden.
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's the history of the curse. So, what will happen to this year's cover star?
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