The EA Sports Madden Football Cover Curse
Welcome back to Sport Center’s series on sports urban legends. Today we will look at the EA Sports Madden NFL Football cover curse. This curse is even more believable because of the simple fact that everyone who has appeared on the cover so far has been cursed in one way or another.
NFL players have appeared on the cover of the Madden game since the 2001 version. Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, and Ray Lewis were the covers from 2001-2005 respectively. Every one of these players, with the exception of Ray Lewis, merely because this season is so new, has been victim of either poor numbers, injuries, or both. This dares one to ask the question, “Who decides the player for the cover of the game?” Well, we have the answer, or at least we know who used to choose. Although we cannot tell you his name, he has agreed to speak with us under a condition of anonymity, for fear of harassment from not only fans, but the players themselves. He was the former marketing executive for EA Sports Madden football series and he finds this curse to be quite amusing. In fact, after the 2001 cover, he noticed the decline in George’s numbers, and began to wonder if there was something to it. He picked the subsequent covers using players he did not care for and making sure to avoid his favorite players. Here is what he has to say.
“I really get a kick out of reading all of these stories about the Madden video game curse, especially knowing that I had such a huge role in it. For the 2001 game, I suggested that we start using actual players for the cover. When I got the OK from everyone, I went straight to one of my favorite players, Tennessee Titan running back Eddie George. I had met Eddie a few years ago at a charity event, and we became pretty good friends. He had sent me tickets to some games, so I decided to reward him for it by offering him a spot on the cover. He, of course, accepted. I did not know at the time what I had done to him. As the following season progressed, I saw the horrible numbers Eddie was putting up in the games he played in, and injuries began to pile up as well. Then I started to see articles about Eddie being the victim of the newest cover jinx. I thought to myself for a little while, and decided to see if there was any weight to it.”
“The next year’s game came, and I decided to use Daunte Culpepper. I really was not a Culpepper fan, and I really thought he was over-hyped. So, I decided to put this curse to the test. I contacted Daunte, and he was excited to be on the cover. I remember laughing to myself as he signed his season away! Sure enough, Culpepper’s numbers were horrible the following season, and he suffered a season-ending knee injury on top of that. It was at that point that I knew there was something to this curse.”
“Before the next season was even close to being here, I already knew who I wanted for the next cover: Marshall Faulk. I figured that I would get some revenge for my buddy Eddie, since Faulk’s Rams had beaten the Titans in the Super Bowl a few years back. As soon as the time came, I contacted Marshall, and he agreed to be on the cover. Marshall’s season went as I thought it would: poor numbers and many injuries. At this point, I felt that I was almost the god of football. I felt that I could take down anyone in the game whenever I felt like it, just by putting them on the cover of a stupid video game! So, I began to think of the most over-rated player that I could think of, and Michael Vick popped into my mind. I have never thought of Vick being as good of a quarterback as everyone proclaimed him to be. In fact, I really hated him for everyone saying he was going to be the greatest of all time. So, without hesitation, I called up Vick about the cover for the 2004 game. Being a video game nut, Vick did not even think twice about accepting. This went better than any of the previous. Vick did not even make it to the season. He broke his leg in a preseason game! I was really feeling good about myself at this point. That was until I was found out by some coworkers. They found some notes in my desk, showed them to my supervisor, and I was immediately fired, without even being allowed to explain myself. Although I lost my job, I feel really good about my time there. I guess we will have to see in the coming years if the curse was because of me, or if there is something bigger involved. Ray Lewis had better hope that it was me!”
Wow, that is very disturbing to say the least. As for Ray Lewis, the cover boy for Madden 2005, nothing major has happened so far this season, but we are not even halfway through this season yet, so we will just have to wait and see.
Thanks for tuning in. Join us next week for part 4 of the series, where we will look at the role the Washington Redskins play in the presidential elections.
I decided to use this story because of the fact that I have owned all of the Madden games, and think that this curse is really eerie. I am not sure if I really believe it or not, but it is hard to argue with the facts that have been shown to this point. Ray Lewis withstanding, every one of these football players that have appeared on the cover has had problems in the following season. It kind of makes you wonder if John Madden was having a lot of bad luck when his likeness was on the covers of the games prior to the 2001 version. I decided to make up a character that was in charge of picking the cover player for the game because I thought that it would make for an interesting story and a good twist on the curse. I also thought that it would make light of the curse be making it out to be the work of a single person.
Story: Covering the blues
By: Patrick Hruby
Weblink: http://sports.espn.go.com/espngamer/story?id=1594186
Story: Will Ray Lewis Be Cursed?
By: Chris Morris
Weblink: http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/07/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/