The Madden Curse (3168 hits)
Category: Computers & InternetRating: 1 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Sully (View user info) at 2004-08-13 00:08:25 EDT
Any heterosexual male who owns a video game system and knows what a halfback is, has at one time or another played the glory that is Madden football.
Madden has that wonderful style that millions have come to know and love and that is why people buy the next one every year. John Madden's years of senility are clearly beginning, but that doesn't mean that EA Sports will ever dumb the franchise down. John's name on video games is what he will be remembered for when he dies, not him coaching the Raiders. It's a sad thing. Kind of like how Rick James will be remembered because of Dave Chappelle's catch phrases and not his musical abilities.
Not everything is bright and happy in the Madden universe, however. If you didn't know already, the franchise is cursed.
Some people believe in curses and others don't. If you pay attention to baseball, curses on the Cubs and Red Sox are nearly undoubtable. Why hasn't anyone ever seen or heard from Steve Bartmen since last year's NLCS? Is it because he was murdered? Was he ever really there at all? Another well known "curse" is the Kennedy family deaths. Everyone has their own story of a particular curse they believe in.
The Madden Curse has been around for four years. Whoever is on the cover of the Madden game will be injured and/or have a terrible season for that year.
Subject 1: Eddie George; cover-star of Madden 2001. He had been a major factor in the Titans getting to the Superbowl the year before and if he continued his dominance on the ground, Tennessee looked to have another great year. He was on the cover of Madden, so of course he had his worst year ever and was injured frequently.
Subject 2: Daunte Culpepper; cover-star of Madden 2002. Culpepper looked to have a promising season but hurt his knee, missed five games, and had a mediocre season.
Subject 3: Marshall Faulk; cover-star of Madden 2003. Faulk was the most well-known and well-liked running back in the NFL. He was practically a household name especially after he helped the Rams get to the Superbowl. However, he decided to sign on for the cover of Madden. Bad decision. He hurt his ankle badly, missed six games, and had a very underwhelming year.
Subject 4: Mike Vick; coverstar of Madden 2004. He looked like he'd be the greatest quarterback of all time. The Falcons would surely make it to the playoffs and dominate. But John Madden himself handpicked Mike Vick to be on the front of his game. Expectantly, Vick broke his leg in the preseason and missed 12 starts.
Coincidence? Curse?
Raven's all-pro linebacker, Ray Lewis is on the cover of Madden 2005. Will Lewis hurt himself and fail to bring Baltimore to the playoffs? Only if the curse continues.
In my opinion, the "curse" is dependent on sales. ESPN 2k5 is like $20 and supposedly better than Madden '05 so it should outsell it. But with Madden's popularity, you never know.
User Reviews
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2006-11-21 15:16:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
2005 - Donovan McNabb hurts his leg and misses 5 games.
2006 - Shaun Alexander breaks his foot and misses 7 weeks.
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2004-09-02 15:25:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I heard about this the other day, +2 for coincidence
Submitted by hockyman (user info) at 2004-08-23 00:56:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by NetProphet (user info) at 2004-08-23 00:46:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Those sports games never interested me. Sorry, but I'd rather play a first person shooter or a decent RPG.
Submitted by kitchens_closed (user info) at 2004-08-23 00:30:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
He got my last six posts. Consider yourself lucky.
Submitted by Pooz (user info) at 2004-08-22 19:55:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Submitted by SullyThePirate (user info) at 2004-08-22 19:43:37 (#)
Ranking: -2
What the hell? Are you banned yet?
Submitted by William_Q_Percy (user info) at 2004-08-14 21:16:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Its the same thing with the EA Sports NHL series. THe players on the cover always have a mediocre season the year after, but this year was really bad. Dany Heatly killed his friend/teammate in a car wreck and almost died himself... raw deal.
Submitted by kitchens_closed (user info) at 2004-08-14 21:06:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice to see your post Sully.
I can see your a Michael Vick dick-rider, but that's all right.
Anyway, I think the curse is bullshit, same with the Sports Illustrated curse, which I wrote an article on for my school paper. As for Ray Lewis, who knows if him or his team will flop or not. Though I think it would be idiotic to say a Madden curse exists if Lewis has a great season (statistics and injury wise), but his team makes the playoffs. After all, only he is on the cover, not the entire Ravens team.
I bet that if the Ravens made it to the AFC championship game and lost on a final second field goal, dumbasses all over will be yelling "OMFG ITS TEH CURSE!!!!!!11 TEH MADDEN CURSE!!!11(shift+one)." That's what I don't understand about curses; unless some one chants them out loud, there is no clear-cut definition of what it is.
Oh yeah, as for this fucktard:
"Submitted by qwert_666 (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:43:10 (#)
Ranking: -2
You get a -2 because this is a post that relates to football"
Why would he click on a Madden topic if he hates football? What a fucking asshole.
Submitted by Beer_bong (user info) at 2004-08-13 12:20:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I bought ESPN and hated it, then I bought Madden and hated it slightly less, but still took it back. I'm sticking to NCAA this year.
Submitted by SullyThePirate (user info) at 2004-08-13 01:01:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I didn't know it was from FoxSports. A friend of mine told me about it so he probably got it from that.
Submitted by qwert_666 (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:43:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
You get a -2 because this is a post that relates to football
Submitted by Zoidberg (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:31:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I gotta question someone who writes a post based on a FoxSports segment...
Submitted by SullyThePirate (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:29:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by ScoutCJustice (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:15:28 (#)
Ranking: 2
The curse isn't just on Madden games, it's the EA sports curse. Dan Heatly was on the cover of NHL 2004 and got in that car wreck that tore up his knee causing him to miss 3/4 of the season, killed his teammate and friend and has now landed him in legal trouble. Mario Lemieux made the cover of NHL 2002 after a promising comeback to hockey, and then missed 55 games due to injury. Jarome Iginla made the cover of 2003 and had a lingering ankle injury that severely limited his point totals. So far most of the covers for the NCAA franchise have done jack squat in the NFL.
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Yeah I forgot about the NHL games. I read somewhere that approximately 30% of the athletes ever to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated either got injured or had their statistics drop after the issue.
Submitted by DavyJones (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:15:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I went with the ESPN game. It is damn good.
Submitted by Disektor (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:15:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Thta's a pretty cool curse.
Submitted by ScoutCJustice (user info) at 2004-08-13 00:15:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The curse isn't just on Madden games, it's the EA sports curse. Dan Heatly was on the cover of NHL 2004 and got in that car wreck that tore up his knee causing him to miss 3/4 of the season, killed his teammate and friend and has now landed him in legal trouble. Mario Lemieux made the cover of NHL 2002 after a promising comeback to hockey, and then missed 55 games due to injury. Jarome Iginla made the cover of 2003 and had a lingering ankle injury that severely limited his point totals. So far most of the covers for the NCAA franchise have done jack squat in the NFL.