The Sports Illustrated Cover Curse
Welcome back to Sport Centers series on sports urban legends. Today we will focus on the Sports Illustrated cover curse, which is basically that you are jinxed if you are on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Many people do not really buy into this, but for some, they claim that the curse has ruined their life. We spoke at length with an anonymous former football player, who claims that the curse has not only ruined his team, but ruined his life.
“Being put on the cover of Sports Illustrated was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. At the time, I was on top of the world, but now I am not even in the game anymore.”
“I was having the season of my life, when an executive from Sports Illustrated approached me outside the locker room after one of my best games of the season. He told me he was from Sports Illustrated and that they were interested in doing a piece on me and featuring me on the cover. Not even thinking twice about it, I agreed. I felt like I had really made the big time now: I was going to be the not only the feature for the week, but also on the cover!”
“On Wednesday of that week, a reporter from Sports Illustrated came by and we sat down and talked for a few hours. After he was through with the interview, they showed me some pictures of myself in action, and let me choose which one I liked best. After that, we shook hands and that was the end, or so I thought. Little did I know that I had just doomed not only my team but myself.”
“On that next Sunday, I ran onto the field, but something was not right. I could not tell you what it was, but I just had some weird feeling. Little did I know that I was about to have the worst game of my life, and against the worst team in the league no less. The entire game, it was like there was some magical force keeping me from doing anything right.”
“I thought this was just a fluke, but boy was I wrong. We went on to lose all of the remaining games, and missed the playoffs. But that was not the worst. On the last play of the last game of our season, I severely injured my leg. At the time I did not know that it was career-ending, but that is what it was. I remember thinking about how in the world things could go so wrong so fast. Then, when I was in bed recovering from surgery, I looked over on my wall, and what do I see but a framed copy of my Sports Illustrated cover. Then it dawned on me: I was cursed by being on the cover of Sports Illustrated!”
“To this day, I still regret my decision to be on the cover of that magazine. I have lost all my teammate's friendships because they blame me for what happened, I cannot walk down the street without getting jeered at by some person of whom I have never met before in my life. In fact, I very rarely leave the house. The friends I do have make fun of me for blaming the “curse”, but they do not understand. I have been seeing a psychiatrist to try to put this behind me, but I just cannot. Anyone who wants to say otherwise should look at my story and then they will believe.”
Well, you heard it here, folks: we have documented proof of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, but Tom Brady and the New England Patriots might disagree, since they were on the cover for winning 19 straight games, but went out and won the 20th relatively easily.
Well, thanks for tuning in. Join us next week for part 3 of the series, where we will look into the EA Sports Madden Football cover curse.
This story is entirely fictitious. I made up a player and tried to think of ways to make his life totally ruined by the Sports Illustrated cover curse, and have him tell his story. I included this story because it is a pretty well known sports urban legend, but also since Adrian Peterson was on the cover before the Texas game. I know a lot of people have been holding their breath ever since, worried that Peterson will fall victim to the curse. We can take heart, though, because of the 2,456 covers of Sports Illustrated, only 913 were found to be "jinxes," mostly with golf and tennis players. I chose the graphic because I thought it was funny and summed up the jinx nicely.
Story: Unraveling the Jinx
By: Alexander Wolfe, Sports Illustrated
Weblink: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/alexander_wolff/news/2002/01/15/wolff_viewpoint/