Whoa, hey there, looks like not one, but two NFL players are next in line for the dreaded Madden Curse. EA Sports has revealed that both Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 10, which ships on August 14th this year.
While some don’t believe in the Madden Curse, it’s all too real for most fans. Here are some of the athletes to have graced the cover of the game in years past and the bad luck that followed soon thereafter:
- Barry Sanders, 2000: Retired before the start of the season
- Eddie George, 2001: Rushing average plummeted during 2001 season
- Daunte Culpepper, 2002: Blew out knee, Vikings finished 5-11, he’s very bad at football
- Marshall Faulk, 2003: Injured ankle, less than 1000 yards rushing
- Michael Vick, 2004: Fractured fibula the day after Madden 04 released, went to prison
- Ray Lewis, 2005: Zero interceptions, tore hamstring
- Donovan McNabb, 2006: Sports hernia during first game of the season, needed surgery
- Shaun Alexander, 2007: Broke foot in 2006, only played four games last season
- Vince Young, 2008: Suffered first serious football injury in his life in 2007, went crazy last season
- Brett Favre, 2009: Favre is basically the Chuck Norris of the NFL — he cursed Madden by appearing on the cover in a Green Bay uniform, coming out of retirement, going to the Jets, then re-retiring
So to Polamalu and Fitzgerald, best wishes for a prosperous 2009 season! Normally, I’d posit that the tough-as-nails Polamalu might be able to overcome the curse, but the whole Ray Lewis thing throws a wrench in that theory. And who knows? Maybe Favre finally put an end to the curse — I wouldn’t count on it, though.
Madden NFL 10 [EA Sports]