The Madden Curse: A Video Game that KILLS NFL careers
A lot of us love playing Madden on our Xbox or PlayStation. However, if you’re an NFL player, you never want to be on the cover of Madden. You know why? Cause, there’s a curse in this game. More than 20 years into the iconic franchise’s history, there’s almost no escaping the Madden Curse. Here it is, the Worst “Madden Curse” NFL Victims. Our first victim is Patrick Mahomes II. In 2018 he was named to the Pro Bowl, First Team All-Pro, and one of four black quarterbacks to win the MVP award. So, Mahomes gracing the cover shouldn’t be
a surprise to anyone. He was named the cover athlete for Madden NFL 20, But like I said, this game is cursed, folks. The Kansas City Chiefs announced after that Mahomes was out with a knee injury. Ohh here we go again. Fortunately, this injury was not too serious. He would end up missing less than a month before returning to action. Mahomes was lucky. But there are those who were not lucky. Especially when the game first came out, in the 2000s, what happened to the people on the cover was really scary. For example, look at the cover
of this 2000 game. Our case is not about the man in the front, the one and only John Madden. But if you look carefully, at the background, you
a strong last season, and was healthy. People said he was tired of losing on the Lions but we know the real deal. Don’t believe me? Then let’s take a look at what happened to our Madden 2001 star. My man Eddie George had rushed for over 1,200 yards in four seasons straight and averaged over 3.7 yards per carry to lead the team in 2000. Congrats Eddie. You deserve to be on the cover of Madden 2001. Then a rare bobbled pass by George late in the fourth quarter of a playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens led to
an interception and a touchdown that ended the Titans’ otherwise stellar season. After that heart-break next season George averaged just 3 yards per carry and under 1,000 yards for first time after 5 seasons. He never gets above 3.7 yards per carry again after averaging 4.0 before cover. Don’t worry, George, the stars after you had the same problems. For example, Daunte Culpepper on the 2002 cover, just a few months after being named the Madden NFL cover athlete, suffered a knee injury during a game against the Steelers and had to miss the rest of the 2001 season. And
its performance went consistently downhill from there. After starting all 16 games before cover he only does so again in 2 of his 9 other seasons. If you say this is a coincidence, then let me tell you the story of the 2003 cover. Marshall Faulk, the star on the cover of Madden 2003, naturally suffered from this curse. My man Faulk went for 5 consecutives thousand-yard seasons before the cover. That included 4 years with over 1,300 yards. The very next season he suffers an ankle injury and misses 5 games. He never gains over 1,000 yards rushing again.
The more terrifying aspect of the matter occurred 3 years later. He eventually missed the entire 2006 season due to surgery on his knee, and never returned to the league. Geezzz, That’s really horrible. And there are some even weirder ones. For example, Just a short time after it was announced that Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick would be the cover athlete for Madden NFL 2004, he fractured his right fibula during a preseason game. The injury forced him to miss the first 11 games of the season. Then he got into dog fighting. Ray Lewis, who was the cover
star in 2005, couldn’t escape the sting, too. Lewis tore his right hamstring, forcing him to end his season abruptly. However, What happened to cover star Donovan McNabb in 2006 was even more frightening. He was on track for a huge year in 2005 when his season was derailed by a groin injury that sent him to the injured reserve list for the remainder of the season. My man, never quite recovered the following season, and in Week 11, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee and was once again sidelined for the remainder of
the season. It was such a bad disease that it caused my man to end his football career in 2011. Mann, By 2009, the Madden Curse was in full effect, so EA Sports tried to break it by changing the rules. Two athletes were on the cover for the first time. These guys were Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald. It looks like the company hoped that at least one of them would have a great season and break the curse. At the moment, Polamalu was one of the best defensive players in the league. At the same time, Fitzgerald was
the highest rated receiver in Madden 10. Soon enough, Polamalu was hit by the curse, as his knee problem meant that he could only play five games during the season. Plus, his Super Bowl-winning Steelers failed to make the playoffs. However, Fitzgerald stayed healthy and was even selected for a Pro Bowl. But once the Curse was done with Polamalu, it hit Larry hard during the playoffs, leaving him with a season-ending rib injury. As you can see, eventually both men were cursed. Our latest victim is Antonio Brown on the cover of Madden NFL 19. Antonio Brown was voted
the second-best NFL player and had the most receiving yards in the league before being introduced as the new Madden cover face. With a strong contract, the future looked so bright for the young stud on the Steelers. But after being on the cover, things soon took a dark turn. After numerous incidents, including violent behavior, dangerous driving, and sexual misconduct, Brown was traded to the Raiders. He got into an altercation with GM Mike Mayock and never played a game. He played only a single game for the Patriots in 2019 before being released. He did play a few
games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but was never close to the same player. Now the best receiver in the league can even get roster spot. We’re not exaggerating, are we, guys? Please include the evil eyes on the cover next time. Cuz we all know the Madden Curse will get you. Hope you enjoyed the video. Check out another one now.
