The Madden Curse has a long history of claiming seasons and even a career.
There are several different opinions on how many people were actually affected by the curse.
Here is the evidence…
Garrison Heart appeared on the 1999 cover and went on to enjoy a career season, but then suffered a broken ankle in the playoffs and the Niners lost the game.
Barry Sanders graced the 2000 cover along with John Madden. Sanders retired before the season even started.
Eddie George may be an exception as he followed his 2001 appearance with a very solid year. It was a year after that in which he turned in career lows across the board and was never the same again.
Daunte Culpepper was coming off a season of nearly 4500 total yards and 40 TD. He graced the 2002 cover and threw for 14 TD and 13 INT before a back injury ended his season.
Marshall Faulk was coming off a Super Bowl appearance and was the reigning Offensive Player of the Year when he agreed to be on the cover of Madden 2003. He suffered an ankle sprain that cost him 6 games and he failed to reach 1000 yards rushing for the first time in 7 years. He never returned to his previous level of play.
Michael Vick was a rising star when he appeared on the 2004 cover. He didn’t even make it out of the preseason as he suffered a fractured fibula on a nasty tackle from behind. Vick only appeared in 5 games that season.
Ray Lewis is another questionable cursed player. He was the first defensive player to make the cover when he was on Madden 2005. He led the Ravens to a division title the prior season and had a career high 6 interceptions. After becoming a cover boy, he failed to record an INT and failed to make the playoffs. He did have a solid season though.
Madden 2006 saw Donovan McNabb on the cover. That season he suffered a sports hernia and attempted to tough it out, but Roy Williams put on hit on McNabb that worsened the injury and caused him to have season ending surgery. He played in just 9 games that year and hasn’t finished a full season since.
The 2007 curse shifted its focus to Shaun Alexander. Alexander rushed for 1880 yards and 27 TD the previous season. After appearing on the cover, he suffered a fracture in his foot and missed 6 games. He failed to reach 1000 yards and scored just 7 TD. He followed that up with a 700 and 4 campaign and is now out of football.
Madden 2008’s cover boy was Vince Young. Young appeared to be ready to step up and become a dual threat quarterback that gave opposing defenses fits. Instead he threw for just 9 TD and 17 INT and missed one game.
The curse finally seemed like it was going to skip a year when the 2009 cover featured Brett Favre, who was safely hidden away in Mississippi enjoying retirement. With his return to the New York Jets, only time will tell if the curse comes true.
What we do know for sure is that there may be another curse to watch out for as it’s already claimed its 2008 poster boy.
Tom Brady was the inspiration behind the logo for The All American Touchdown Derby at passitdeep.com after his record-breaking season last year. It seemed like a no brainer that you’d have to honor the record holder for most touchdowns thrown in one season.
And so the story begins…
The All American Touchdown Derby curse has a long history of claiming seasons.
In 2008, a Tom Brady replica graced the front page of passitdeep.com after throwing for a record 50 TD passes in 2007. He stepped onto the field to begin his follow-up campaign and didn’t make it out of the first quarter before suffering a torn ACL and MCL that claimed his season before he could register a single touchdown.
Now this could certainly just be a coincidence, but for the sake of my fantasy football keeper league, I’d prefer if the guys at passitdeep.com didn’t look at Jay Cutler when designing the 2009 version of the game.
