With the recent release of Madden NFL 16 worldwide, the topic of the 'Madden Curse' has risen, as it always does, once again. It was announced in May that New York Giants rookie starlet Odell Beckham Jr. would be Madden’s cover athlete for this year’s installment of the game. ODB himself announced that he was honored to be on the cover of Madden and refuted any claims of a curse on his Twitter account. Despite being a ridiculous myth to some, the history behind the curse itself shows that it certainly seems very real.

The original Madden game was released for MS-DOS back in 1988 and featured the legendary John Madden himself on the cover. This was the case up until the 1999 version of the game, in which Madden 99 featured its first NFL player in San Francisco 49ers running back, Garrison Hearst. After a fantastic year in 1998, rushing for over 1500 yards and setting the franchise record at the time and finishing third overall in rushing that year, Hearst would go on to break his ankle and would proceed to miss the next two whole seasons.

Madden 2000 saw two running backs share the cover, the first being the great Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions. Upon being selected as the cover athlete, Sanders abruptly retired, walking away from the NFL completely. Sanders retirement was a shock, as he was seemingly on track to break the all-time rushing record held by Walter Payton. The second running back was Dorsey Levens of the Green Bay Packers who would go on to have a solid year, rushing for over 1000 yards. The following season however, Green Bay would miss the playoffs and with Levens struggling with injuries, he would only play in a combined 20 games and rush for a total of 389 yards over the following two seasons. The Packers released Levens in 2001.

Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George was the cover choice for Madden 2001. George seemingly had avoided the curse, leading the Titans to the playoffs with over 1500 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns, both being career highs. However, the Titans met the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs. Late in the 4th quarter and needing a score to stay alive, a pass from Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair was bobbled by George and intercepted by Ravens great Ray Lewis for a touchdown. The subsequent play sealed the game as the Ravens went on to win 24-10.

Madden 2002 would see an up and coming star in Daunte Culpepper get the nod as cover athlete. Leading the Minnesota Vikings to the NFC Championship game in a spectacular 2000 season, the young quarterback tallied just shy of 4000 yards passing and a huge 33 touchdown passes. Culpepper proved to be a threat on the ground as well as the air, rushing for 470 yards and 7 touchdowns. After gracing the cover of Madden, Culpepper was plagued with turnovers and poor performances for the next two seasons, throwing 36 interceptions and totalling 39 fumbles.

The 2003 installment of the game brings back memories of a beast running back in Marshall Faulk. The St Louis Rams star racked up four straight seasons rushing over 1300 yards while playing a huge role in the St Louis Rams Super Bowl championship run in the 1999-2000 season. Faulk was part of the offense known as ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ with quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Unfortunately for Faulk, after appearing on the Madden cover, his production dropped significantly as he never rushed for over 1000 yards again and was hampered by injuries for the remainder of his years in the league, retiring in 2005 after season-ending knee surgery.

Michael Vick was chosen as the Madden 2004 cover athlete after a breakout sophomore season in the league. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback passed for 2,936 yards and scoring 24 touchdowns, 8 of which were rushing. Vick brought a new dynamic to the quarterback position, as his ability to extend broken down plays with his scrambling and rushing kept defenses on their toes. A superstar on the rise, Vick would not avoid the curse as his cover year saw him suffer a severe leg injury during a pre-season game with the Baltimore Ravens. The Falcons would finish the season 5-11 with Vick missing the majority of the season. In 2007, Vick would plead guilty to for running a dog fighting operation out of his home in Atlanta, serving almost 2 years in prison. His career never recovered, as the former Atlanta Falcon has spent time, mainly as a back-up for the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles and most recently has signed for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Madden 2005 saw Baltimore Ravens line-backer and NFL legend Ray Lewis become the first defensive player to be given the cover. Despite not being a primary stat for his position, it would be Lewis’ only season without an interception, a huge drop considering his six picks the previous year. The Ravens would also miss the playoffs that year finishing second in the AFC North and missing the playoffs after winning the division the previous year.

With Ray Lewis having got off relatively lightly it would seem, the curse came back in a big way for Madden 2006 cover choice, Donovan McNabb. Leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl the prior year, McNabb finished the season with a phenomenal 31 touchdown passes and just 8 interceptions, falling just shy of 4000 yards passing. Chosen as the cover athlete for Madden, McNabb had an up-and-down year with locker room turmoil with teammate Terrell Owens constantly in the headlines. McNabb’s season would come to an end as he was injured on a play which saw his pass intercepted in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, ending the Eagles quarterback season in November of that year. The following season, an ACL tear would put McNabb on the shelf for the season yet again for the Eagles.

Madden '07 would see Shaun Alexander chosen as the cover athlete following a magnificent season the previous year. The Seahawks running back rushed for a total of 1,880 yards and setting an NFL record to that point with 28 touchdowns. Voted the league’s Most Valuable Player, Alexander signed an eight year, $62 million dollar contract extension to stay with the Seahawks, making him the highest paid running back in the NFL at the time. In Week 3 of his Madden cover year, Alexander suffered a broken foot in a game against the Green Bay Packers, forcing the reigning MVP to miss 5 games. Alexander was cut by the Seahawks at the end of the 2007-2008 season.

The Titans suffered from the curse once again as quarterback Vince Young was given the cover for Madden '08. The Tennessee starter took to talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live to announce himself as the choice for the Madden game. When asked about the curse, Young stated that he would take the Titans to the playoffs and hopefully the Super Bowl. Young instead had a poor season, throwing for 9 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. A string of injuries and poor performances would see limited starts for Young as he spent time with several different teams as a back-up, most recently by the Green Bay Packers in 2013.

Madden '09 saw, at the time, the recently-retired Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre grace the cover as a tribute to his storied career. Favre, now infamously, changed his mind about retirement after the game was released and informed the Packers he wished to play the 2008-2009 season. Having already committed to their new quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers traded Favre to the New York Jets. After a seemingly solid season, the Jets would lose four of their final five games, with Favre throwing eight interceptions and only two touchdowns, bringing his season total to 22 touchdowns and an equal 22 picks. The Jets would miss the playoffs and Favre would retire for a second time, only to come out of retirement once again to play one more season with the Vikings.

Madden 10 was a shared cover with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Arizona Cardinals Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The opening game of the 2009-2010 season, the curse struck Polamalu, as he suffered a knee injury against the Tennessee Titans, forcing the Pittsburgh defender to miss the next four games. Polamalu would return, only to re-injure his knee against the Cincinnati Bengals, this time proving to be a season ending injury. The Steelers, without Polamalu, would miss the playoffs going 9-7 that year. The Cardinals would also miss the playoffs but Fitzgerald however had a solid year. A rib injury forced the Arizona star to miss the Pro-Bowl, as he seemingly avoided the curse that season.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was chosen for Madden 11, coming off a Super Bowl winning campaign the prior year. Brees would play in every game despite suffering a knee injury, with Saints coach Sean Payton confirming that his starting quarterback had been playing with a nagging knee issue all year. The former Super Bowl champion threw twice as many interceptions as the previous year with 22 as the Saints would go on to lose to the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs. The Saints would then be the cause of much controversy in 2012, with the saga known as Bounty-gate causing the franchise to lose draft picks and several personnel including head coach Payton, being suspended for the season.

The Madden 12 cover was a somewhat of a shock, as Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis was voted by fans as the cover athlete. Having had a break out year in 2011 with over 1000 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns, Hillis looked like he could be a star in the league for years to come. However, contract disputes with Cleveland management as well as personnel changes forced Hillis’ situation to become a distraction in the locker room. Hillis would start just 9 games in the 2011-2012 season, rushing for a dismal 587 yards and 3 touchdowns. The troubled back would only spend two more seasons in the NFL, one each with Kansas City and then finally the New York Giants. He reportedly now volunteers as a high school coach in Arkansas.

Madden 13 saw arguably the best receiver in the NFL grace the cover, in Calvin Johnson, or as he is known to many, Megatron. Seemingly the only player to not be effected by the curse in any way, the Detroit Lions star broke the single season receiving record held by the great Jerry Rice with a total of 1,848 yards. The Lions however finished the season with an abysmal record of 4-12 after making the playoffs the previous year, with perhaps the curse effecting the team itself.

Madden 25 was the next installment in the series with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson making the cover. The second reigning MVP after Shaun Alexander to don the Madden cover, Peterson struggled with injuries for most of the year, with his season eventually coming to an end before a December match up with the Detroit Lions. The Vikings suffered also, going 5-10-1 after a solid 10-6 the previous year. Peterson was most recently the focal point in a highly publicized child abuse scandal in which he was suspended for the entire 2014-15 season.

Outspoken Seattle cornerback, Richard Sherman was chosen as the cover athlete for last year’s Madden 15. A key piece in the Seahawks Super Bowl run, Sherman had another solid year backed by the Legion of Boom, finishing the season with 57 tackles and 4 interceptions. However, the curse struck in late in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers, with Sherman in noticeable pain having picked up an elbow injury, which would eventually require surgery. The Seahawks defeated the Packers before going on to lose to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. In an eerie Madden curse twist, a simulation of the Super Bowl prior to the game was made public, in which the game predicted correctly a victory for the Patriots, 28-24.   

To some it may be coincidence, but there seems like there is certainly something to the Madden curse as the storied history shows. After a phenomenal breakout year last season, will the curse claim Odell Beckham Jr. as its next victim?

Only time will tell.

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