The Madden Curse: myth or reality?

Over 20 years have passed since the creation of the historic football video game, Madden NFL,  and it seems like a good time to remember what has accompanied one of the most popular urban legends in the video game world: the Madden Curse.

Although it might be thought of as nothing but chance and superstition, the Madden Curse has left its mark on NFL players over the years, believed to jinx any player who occupies the cover of the legendary video game.

From injuries to considerable drops in performance, the football world has seen serious cases in the NFL since the very first incident in 1988. Let’s take you through it.

Related: Who features on front cover of Madden 23?

The origins of the Madden Curse

The origin of the Madden curse dates back to 1998, when the first cover starring a professional player would be seen, since previously it had always been the legendary John Madden himself who made an appearance on it. In this case it was Garrison Hearst, the San Francisco 49ers running back who had just broken the record for total yards (running and receiving) in one season with this franchise. The year after gracing the cover of Madden 99, Hearst actually led his team to the playoffs, only to suffer one of the nastiest ankle injuries ever seen in a 2nd-round game against the Atlanta Falcons. At first it was thought that he would never play again, but he spent the next two years rehabbing.

One of the most curious cases occurred in the subsequent installment, Madden 2000, when another running back who was on the cover of the game, Detroit’s Barry Sanders, announced his retirement shortly after his appearance without playing a single game the following season. Although one could not speak of a curse, since it was a decision made by Sanders himself and not a misfortune, it had been speculated that in the Lions’ locker room, Sanders did it as a precaution, for fear of suffering the same fate as Hearst. Sanders would later confess that it was the losing culture of the Michigan franchise that was the main reason he made such a snap decision.

Two years later, Daunte Culpepper (Madden 2002, Minnesota Vikings) would also suffer an injury shortly after the start of the season, having to miss it entirely. His performance later would be well below his capabilities, throwing 23 interceptions for just 18 touchdown passes. Something similar would happen with Marshall Faulk (Madden 2003, Sant Louis Rams), whose subsequent seasons would mark the decline of one of the most productive running backs of the 90s, having to definitively retire from football in 2006.

Onto the 2003 edition with Michael Vick, the promising quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, who appeared on the cover of Madden 2004. Vick had just broken several records in terms of rushing yards for a player at his position, and presented himself as one of the most explosive players in the NFL, all the way up until the curse went into effect. Vick fractured the fibula in his left leg to miss 11 games that same season. And that wasn’t the worst part; in 2007, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his relationship with a case of illegal dog fights in which the police confiscated 66 dogs. Vick served that sentence to, despite everything, return to play for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 and play a fairly worthy role.

The players on the following covers (Ray Lewis and Donovan McNabb) also suffered injuries that abruptly ended their post-game cover seasons, and in McNabb’s case, it kept him from ever being the star quarterback he was. Something similar happened in 2006, when Shaun Alexander (Madden 2007) finished his season in week 3. Curiously, in an interview that year he was asked if he thought the Madden Curse had something to do with it, to which Alexander downplayed it by saying that he preferred “to be injured and on the cover of Madden, rather than just be injured.”

Much remembered would also be the case of Madden 2008. EA contacted star running back of the San Diego Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson, but a massive petition and demonstrations from a group of fans of the California franchise prevented Tomlinson from finally being on the cover of that installment. His teammate Luis Castillo, took his place, but did not suffer any mishaps. The promising quarterback of the Tennessee Titans, Vince Young, who for the first time in his career would miss games due to injury, later became a bench QB for the benefit of Kerry Collins, who was then his backup.

The drop in performance of Brett Favre (Madden 2009) cannot be taken as a reference, since he was already a veteran player. On the other hand, in Madden 2010′s first cover shared by two players: Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu, only the second was affected by the curse. The Steelers safety suffered an injury in the season opener that caused him to miss the next four games. Upon his return he could only play three more games, only to be injured again for the remainder of the season.

Drew Brees, one of the best quarterbacks in history and protagonist of Madden 2011 who went on to throw double the number of interceptions in the following season, also suffered a painful defeat in the playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks who had scored the dubious milestone of being the first team in history to qualify with a negative balance of wins and losses. Meanwhile, the following year, Peyton Hillis (Madden 12) served a season plagued by injuries and was cut by his team, the Cleveland Browns the following summer.

After a few cases where the curse did not do its thing - except in the case of Adrian Peterson - we come to Madden 17 with New England’s tight end Rob Gronkowski on the cover. Although injuries had been a constant in Gronkowski’s career, the season after making an appearance on the cover of Madden was especially bad; he did not debut until week 3, receiving a heavy blow in week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks due to a pulmonary contusion that sat him out the rest of the season. Fortunately, the season ended well for his team, who ended up lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy that season. Just without Gronkowski.

Brady and Mahomes… Ending the Curse?

The following season, the legendary Tom Brady was the protagonist of Madden 18, and despite losing in the Superbowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, the MVP had a superb performance with more than 500 passing yards and 3 touchdown passes in that game. It was worse for Antonio Brown (Madden 19), the controversial wide receiver of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who threatened his retirement if he was not allowed to wear the same helmet he had been wearing throughout his career, since the new one made it difficult for his vision. His subsequent team, the Oakland Raiders, fed up with his extravagances, ended up firing him, and after months of unfortunate episodes, some even involving the police, the New England Patriots gave him a chance, only without success. And if the Patriots can’t turn it around, no one could. Brown currently remains without a team.

We finally come to what seemed to be the breaking of the curse, with Patrick Mahomes on the cover of Madden NFL 20. Although that season was not without injuries for Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback did not miss even a month of competition. Mahomes could not achieve his MVP performance from the previous season- a prize that would fall into the hands of Lamar Jackson, cover of Madden 21. However, shortly after, Mahomes went on to sign the largest contract in the history of professional sports with the Chiefs: up to 450 million dollars in the next 10 years.

The Madden curse did its thing again when it caught up to Lamar Jackson, who was on the cover of last year’s edition. Jackson had a significant decline in production following an MVP season. He saw a sharp drop-off in passing touchdowns (36 to 26) while throwing for fewer yards (2,757) and more interceptions (9) than he had the year before. Jackson also had 201 fewer rushing yards, losing with the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round after making the playoffs as a Wild Card team.