Even though he has retired from the booth, it looks like the curse of John Madden hasn't gone anywhere...
Consider Troy Palamalu the latest victim after he sustained a sprained MCL in his left knee that will keep him out of action for the next 3-6 weeks...leaving the defending Super Bowl Champion Steelers without their straw that stirs the drink on D...
Now for those of you unfamiliar with this curse...long story short...whoever has appeared on the cover of Madden has either suffered an injury or their career has never been the same afterwards...allow me to prove to you why this thing is legit...
MADDEN 2000: Arguably, one of the greatest RB's of all-time, Barry Sanders was originally slated to grace the cover..but decided that he was going to retire from football just before training camp started! Selected in his place was Packers RB Dorsey Levens..PREVIOUS YEAR: fresh off of back-to-back Super Bowl appearances...COVER YEAR: although he had a decent year in '99, (1,043 yds) he re-aggravated an old knee injury..the Pack sumbled to an 8-8 record that year and his knee would never be the same again. 1999 was his final season as a starting RB as he was reduced to a reserve player for the rest of his career....Casuality total: 1
MADDEN 2001: VICTIM: Titans RB Eddie George....PREVIOUS YEAR: Fresh off a Super-Bowl appearance in '99..COVER YEAR: the former Heisman Trophy winner enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2000...but the curse hit in the divisional playoffs when he bobbled a pass that was intercepted and returned for a TD in the Divisional Playoffs that year...a game they eventually lost...his next season was injury-riddled and his numbers sank to an all-time low.....Casuality total: 2
MADDEN 2002: VICTIM: Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper...PREVIOUS YEAR:in his rookie campaign he managed to lead the Vikes all the way to the NFC Title game...COVER YEAR: the Vikes got off to a 4-7 start and a knee injury knocked Culpepper out for the last 5 games of the year...Casuality total: 3
MADDEN 2003: VICTIM: Rams RB Marshall Faulk...PREVIOUS YEARS...reached Super Bowl 2 out of the previous 3 years...COVER YEAR: Rushing yards dropped under 1,000 after 4 straight years of 1,300 Rushing yards or more and the Rams missed the playoffs...Casuality total: 4
MADDEN 2004: VICTIM: Falcons QB Michael Vick.....PREVIOUS YEAR...Vick led Hotlanta to the playoffs in his first year as a starter....COVER YEAR...The day after the game came out he fractured his fibula in a pre-season game and missed the first 11 games of the season...I wonder what he was doing in his spare time?....Casuality Total: 5
P.S does anybody remember how obnoxiously good they made Mike Vick in this game?
MADDEN 2005: VICTIM: Ravens LB Ray Lewis...PREVIOUS YEAR...Career high 6 picks in 2003...COVER YEAR...0 picks for the first time in his career and missed the crucial final game of the season that resulted in B-More missing the playoffs...the next year he tore his right hamstring 5 games into the season and he was done for the year....Casuality total: 6
MADDEN 2006: VICTIM: Eagles QB Donovan McNabb...PREVIOUS YEAR: Lost by 3 points in the Super Bowl and lost his lunch in the huddle...COVER YEAR: Suffered a sports hernia the first game of the year..played 8 more games until he decided to opt for surgery and miss the rest of the year...it should be noted that when asked about the possibility of a curse he replied by saying "it might be a trend, but I don't believe in the curse at all."...believe it Donovan...Casuality total: 7
MADDEN 2007: VICTIM: Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander...PREVIOUS YEAR...led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl...COVER YEAR...broke his foot and missed 6 games...his career was never the same after this...Casuality total: 8
MADDEN 2008: VICTIM: Titans QB Vince Young...PREVIOUS YEAR...Led Texas to National Championship....COVER YEAR: The rook hert his quad in the 5th game of the season and missed the first start of his career at any level....now look where he is....but don't worry VY fans...he'll still be a HOF Quarterback..at least he thinks so....Anyway, I digress...Casuality total: 9
MADDEN 2009: VICTIM: Brett Favre...at this point, EA took the "retired player" route and picked a man who we thought had just finished a HOF career in Green Bay, but Brett made the all too familiar decision to come back as a member of the Jets....after an 8-3 start, Farve and his tricep literally threw any chances of a postseason birth out of the realm of possibility...losing the last 5 games of the year...Casuality total: 10
Throw in Polamalu and you have 11 players that have so far fallen victim to this curse...somewhere out there, John Madden is riding in his bus eating a turkey leg and having a good laugh over all of this...as dumb as the whole idea of the curse really is...the results don't exactly lie...All I have to say is...watch out Larry Fitzgerald...your next!
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