THE MADDEN CURSE
Okay, this one is actually a little spooky. For those who don’t know, here’s the gist of it- of the twenty or so players who have been featured as the cover athletes in the history of EA Sports’ Madden NFL franchise, a surprisingly large number of them have suffered very, very bad seasons immediately after appearing on the cover. It all started with Garrison Hearst, who broke his ankle shortly after appearing on the cover of Madden NFL 99, and since then, a great many players have fallen victim to this “curse”.
Gronkowski was on the cover of Madden NFL 17, and his season was ruined by a string of injuries. Adrian Peterson was the cover star of Madden NFL 25, and his season was ruined by a bad foot injury. Peyton Hillis was on the cover of Madden NFL 12, and his season was hampered by physical issues and poor form. And the list goes on. But you know what’s crazy? The supposed “curse” has gotten so bad that people often end up vehemently protesting when their favourite players appear on the cover of a Madden NFL game. In fact, back in 2010, there were even reports that EA were considering producing a movie about the “Madden curse”.
