For the better part of 40 years, video games have been part of the fabric of American recreational culture, and along the way, some of those games have transcended mere video games, and become part of the pop culture tapestry of the era. The MADDEN football video game franchise is perhaps the most famous video game in the world.
Each year, EA Sports releases a revised version of the NFL video game, named after the legendary broadcaster and coach, the late John Madden. New rosters, new graphics, new wrinkles each and every year, and the big thing — a new cover!
Getting the cover of the MADDEN video game, as a player, is a huge honor, that also comes with a mythical “curse” that has enough teeth to it that it has its own Wikipedia page. Don’t tell that to Bills QB Josh Allen, though, who found out recently that the cover this season is indeed his:
To be fair to the MADDEN creators, whose goal is most certainly not to maim and injure NFL players via some hocus pocus jinx, the supposed “curse” has been, at best, hit or miss through the years. AS I go back through the list of every cover player, here are the four biggest hits and misses for the ominous MADDEN Curse:
(NOTE: The year on the MADDEN label is always a full year ahead of whatever season the game comes out. Super confusing, but that’s why the game whose cover Allen is on is MADDEN 24, and the 2023 season hasn’t even started yet.)
FOUR BIGGEST MADDEN CURSE HITS
Madden 1999, GARRISON HEARST, RB, Cardinals
In 1998, on his third team in six years, Hearst, playing for the 49ers, finally fulfilled the promise that the league saw in him when he was a top three pick in 1993 for Arizona. He rushed for over 1,500 yards, but suffered a gruesome ankle injury in the playoffs and missed two seasons.
Madden 2004, MICHAEL VICK, QB, Falcons
In 2003, Vick, arguably the most exciting player in the league at the time, suffered a broken leg and missed 11 games. The jinx would linger long enough for Vick to go to prison three years later for his role in a dog fighting ring, a development that made him the most reviled athlete in America, especially among dog owners.
Madden 2012, PEYTON HILLIS, RB, Browns
The power of the internet behind him, Hillis was voted as the MADDEN cover boy in one of the mroe remarkable viral movements, following an 1,100 yard season in 2010. Unfortunately, in 2011, Hillis saw his yards per carry dip to 3.6 yards, and he never got his 2010 groove back. On a side note, though, he was the subject of this recent incredible story in which he saved his son and niece from drowning in the ocean:
Madden 2019, ANTONIO BROWN, WR, Steelers
In his final season as a Steeler, and really his final season before manifesting his own insanity, Brown would lead the league with 15 TD catches. However, he would bow out of a Week 17 game that season after a spat with his QB Ben Roethlisberger, and would enter a downward spiral of legal and off field issues that would follow him around to this very day.
FOUR BIGGEST MADDEN CURSE MISSES
Madden 2001, EDDIE GEORGE, RB, Titans
In 2000, Eddie George lived up to the MADDEN cover hype, gaining 1,509 yards on the ground, scoring 14 touchdowns, and taking home first team All Pro honors.
Madden 2013, CALVIN JOHNSON, WR, Lions
Calvin Johnson, or “Megatron” as the kids called him back in the day, responded to his gracing the MADDEN cover by having one of the greatest seasons a wide receiver has had in league history — 122 coaches for 1,954 yards.
Madden 2018, TOM BRADY, QB, Patriots
Tom Brady was the rare MADDEN cover boy who went on to win the MVP of the league the season the game came out. The only blemish for Brady that season was losing the Super Bowl to Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles, but that was far from Brady’s fault, as he threw for 505 yards and three touchdowns.
Madden 2020, PATRICK MAHOMES, QB, Chiefs
All Mahomes did in 2019 was follow up his MVP season of 2018 by winning the Super Bowl and taking home the MVP of that game in 2019, essentially cementing his Hall of Fame future before he was even 25 years old.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
