The Madden curse is real and it continues to victimize NFL players who are willing to be featured on the cover of the video game. Many fans believe that the Madden curse is just a bad coincidence or that people are just looking to much into the play of these players the year they were featured. That’s all good and fine, but the facts are indisputable. In 1999 Garrison Hearst was the first player to be on the cover of the Madden video game and since 2001 Larry Fitzgerald, the Arizona Caridnals’ wide receiver, is the only player to not have a dramatic drop-off in play the year he was featured on the cover. The only probelm was that he wasn’t the only one on the cover; Troy Polamalu, the Steelers’ safety, shared cover honors with Fitzgerald and wasn’t as lucky as his counterpart. The facts of the Madden curse according to Wikipedia are as follows:

2001 Cover – After Eddie George appeared on the 2001 cover, the Tennessee Titans lost in the 2001 playoffs. George also never averaged more than 3.3 yards per carry for the rest of his career.

2002 Cover – Daunte Culpepper led the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs in 2000, but after appearing on the Madden 2002 cover, he threw 23 interceptions as the Vikings slumped to a 5–11 record. He also broke the record for most fumbles in a single season.

2003 Cover – Marshall Faulk appeared on the 2003 cover, and his career (and the success of the St. Louis Rams) severely declined afterwards. He did not register another 1,000 yard rushing season and his yards per carry average dropped from a consistent 5.4 over the previous three years to 4.5 in 2002 and 4.0 in 2003 and 2004.

2004 Cover – After appearing on the cover of Madden NFL 2004, Michael Vick broke his fibula in a pre-season game against the Baltimore Ravens, and the Atlanta Falcons went 5-11. Just one year later it was discovered that he participated in an illegal dog-fighting ring and he was sent to prison.

2005 Cover – Ray Lewis, 2005 cover athlete and middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, had his season cut short in week 15 with a wrist injury. It was also Lewis’ first season without an interception.

2006 Cover – In 2006, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb tore his ACL and meniscus in his right knee while jumping out of bounds in a game versus the Tennessee Titans, ending his season. McNabb also suffered a sports hernia in the first game of the season.

2007 Cover – Running back Shaun Alexander, then the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, was featured on the cover of Madden NFL 2007, and sustained a foot injury that caused him to miss six starts.[34] As a result, Alexander’s rushing statistics were substantially less than those from the previous season, and he never returned to true form.

2008 Cover – Madden NFL 2008′s cover featured Vince Young, the starting quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. Young injured his knee during the 2008 season, missing several weeks. Kerry Collins was named starter for the remainder of the season. LaDainian Tomlinson declined the 2008 cover due to “contract issues.”

2009 Cover – Brett Favre appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 2009 as a Green Bay Packer, under the impression that Favre was retired. However, shortly after the decision, Favre came back out of retirement and was traded to the New York Jets, which prompted EA to release a new cover online. Though he did not miss any games, he led the league in interceptions throwing 22. He later admitted to suffering a torn biceps injury, which Favre says may have affected his gameplay during the final five games of his first and only season with the New York Jets. (The reason to feature a retired player was to break the stigma of the “curse”)

2010 Cover – Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals and safety Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, were both featured on the cover of Madden NFL 10. Polamalu sprained his MCL in the first half of the season opener and missed the next four games. After returning, Polamalu played in three more games before injuring his posterior cruciate ligament on November 14, 2009 against Cincinnati, and missed more games as a result. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, started all 16 regular season and both playoff games for the Cardinals. He did not attend the Pro Bowl due to a rib injury.

2011 Cover – Madden NFL 11 cover athlete Drew Brees played in every game of the 2010 NFL Season. However, he threw twice as many interceptions (22) that season than in the Saints’ 2009 Super Bowl-winning campaign (11).

2012 Cover – Madden NFL 12 cover athlete Peyton Hillis has missed two games in the 2011 NFL season with a hamstring injury, missed one game with strep throat, and has had his numbers decline continuously after the second week. Hillis suffered a re-injury to his hamstring during practice before week nine and his outlook to finish this season with numbers equivalent to his previous year’s performance is looking bleak. It has been rumored that Hillis will leave the Browns at the end of the 2011-2012 season as a free agent.

Peyton Hillis is just the latest in a long line of Madden cover athletes to have major issues and injury problems during the season they are featured on the cover. Hopefully, for Hillis, the curse won’t stay with him for the rest of his career.

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