The Madden series of NFL football video games produced by EA Sports seems to have some sort of strange stranglehold on the NFL. Some say it's coincidental. Others aren't so sure.
But basically, what it boils down to is each year the makers of the game feature a new cover boy from a pool of the league's elite players. And each year, said cover boy misses significant playing time or has a downturn in production because of some mishap or other odd circumstance.
It began with Madden 2000, when featured athlete Barry Sanders abruptly and mysteriously retired from the NFL. Being the first in the series of strange occurrences, of course no one made the connection.
Next came Eddie George on the cover of the 2001 version, who, despite actually having a solid and healthy season, bobbled a pass in a playoff game with the Ravens that led to an interception by Ray Lewis, which was returned for a touchdown. The play seemed to be a turning point for George's career as he consistently battled injury from that point on, causing a rapid decline in his playing skills.
2002 cover boy Daunte Culpepper suffered a season-ending knee injury that caused him to miss the team's last five games.
Injury also hit 2003's Marshall Faulk, who had the worst year of his career and never cracked the 1,000-yard mark again in his career. At this point, people began making a connection between the game and the injuries.
Madden 2004's Michael Vick didn't even make it out of the preseason before breaking his right fibula. He played in just five games all season, further reinforcing the notion that a curse did in fact exist.
The curse had a bit of a delayed reaction when it came to Ray Lewis, who graced the cover of Madden 2005. It was a down year by Lewis and he missed the final game of the year. However, the following season ended prematurely when he was injured during week six.
Donovan McNabb, the cover boy for Madden 2006, was embroiled in a huge controversy surrounding teammate Terrell Owens and also suffered a sports hernia, which severely hindered his play.
Reigning league MVP Shaun Alexander suffered a cracked bone in his foot early in the season, keeping the curse alive through Madden 2007!
