In the year 2000, the Madden video game franchise underwent an important change that has been talked about in the sports world. The idea to put a football player on the cover of the bestselling sports video game franchise seemed like a good idea initially but has led to numerous injuries, retirements, and drops in statistics the season an athlete graces the cover.
In 2000, the Electronic Arts franchise chose Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders grace its video game cover. Before the game was released, Sanders would retire from the NFL and the team he had played for his entire career, the Detroit Lions. The Madden franchise had enough time to substitute out Sanders from the cover and replace his image with Green Bay Packers Dorsey Levens. Levens would experience a mediocre season playing for the 8-8 Packers and would retire the year after he graced the cover.
Nfl 2012
Levens and Sanders would represent the first players involved with the Madden cover who would retire shortly after. Marshall Faulk, who graced the cover in 2003, experienced a decrease in statistics and retired in 2005. Brett Favre was the most recent athlete to have a "Madden Curse" involving retirement. Similarly to the initial cover of Barry Sanders, the game replaced Brett Favre on the cover of the game with a new player. The difference on this 2009 cover was the fact that Favre was replaced by himself in a new uniform. Favre had retired in the offseason and was being honored by the Madden franchise with a cover spot in his Green Bay Packers uniform. The new game featured Favre in a New York Jets jersey.
Several football players have experienced strong declines in statistics the year they are on the cover of the Madden video games. Sports writers and analysts have argued that while this is considered part of the Madden Curse, it should be expected since the players who grace the cover are experiencing career years and are likely due for a decline the following year. Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, and Shaun Alexander all saw their statistics decline the year they were on the cover and were never able to recover.
Injuries suffered by Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, and Troy Polamalu were experienced during the season they were on their respective covers. The biggest impact of the Madden Curse is the injury bug that seems to plague the athletes on it. These athletes received boost in pride and popularity with the cover of video games but suffered injuries which cost them part or all of a season in the National Football League.
For the 2011 season fans got to choose the cover athlete for the first time. A vote came down to Philadelphia Eagle Michael Vick and Cleveland Brown Peyton Hillis. Peyton Hillis won the contest and was featured on the newest version of the video game. Time will tell if Hillis can avoid an injury or statistic downturn during the 2011-2012 NFL season.
The Madden Curse
View NFL Lines on the next player to be victim to the Madden curse! Also NFL Point Spread odds available on upcoming games.
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