Is There A Madden Curse?

Linda writes "GamerDad looks at the 'Madden Curse' for those featured on the front cover of the videogame, year by year, and talks about how it might have come a bit early this year: 'Sports fans know about the Sports Illustrated cover curse (athletes that grace the cover tend to get hurt, really bad, a lot) but a lesser known curse is the one caused by EA Sports' powerhouse Madden franchise. It began just a few years ago when EA took the big lug himself off the cover.'" There's another good synopsis of previous cover stars' woes at the AJC.com site, after Mike Vick of the Atlanta Falcons, this year's star, broke his leg at the weekend.

Comments

Same thing for NHL

[daeley]

I think the same thing may very well go for the EA Sports NHL series as well. Off the top of my head:

2003: Jerome Iginla - awful 02-03 season (by his standards).

2002: Mario Lemieux - awful Penguins 02-03 season, plus injury-plagued.

2001: Owen Nolan - injury-plagued, trapped on also-ran Sharks for years. Unable to save Maple Leafs' during playoffs last year.

2000: Chris Pronger - out with injuries for most of 02-03.

1999: Eric Lindros - Concussion Boy; also, Lung Filling With Blood Boy.

1998: Peter Forsberg - Had to have spleen removed last year.

Re:Troy Brown

[Alkaiser]

Eh, this goes farther than Madden. Look at the NCAA football game...Cade McNown?!

Alonzo Morning made the cover of NBA 2Night the season he got diagnosed for kidney failure. EA put out a press release talking about how Dikembe Mutombo would be their cover athlete, and was the first Atlana Hawk ever to be on a game cover...DAYS before he was traded to Philadelphia.

I've mentioned the video game cover curse for a long time now...it's powerful stuff.

Re:Regression to the Mean

[Quixotic Raindrop]

I think that this regression would have to be over a much longer period of time than one season. Look at the Atlanta Braves, for example. Nobody has had the regular season success that they have, and they've done it for 12 years in a row.

They're probably making up for earlier years when they weren't very good, and so there may be a r/m going on, but it's certainly not valid from year-to-year.

Football Injuries

[Doctor Cat]

My father taught history at Notre Dame for 30 years, and he had almost all the football players in his classes (maybe it was because of all the dirty jokes he told). He was in as good a position as anyone to know that a HUGE percentage of professional football players get hurt.

When Joe Montana was a freshman, he was studying pre-law so he could have a well paying backup career option if he didn't get into the NFL. Dad called him aside after class and said to give up football and just be a lawyer. "Joe," he said, "I've seen what happens, these guys go in the NFL and play 2 or 3 years, then get a crippling injury. If you join up you'll have arthritis by the time you're 30. You won't be able to close your fingers together to make a fist. Give up football and be a lawyer!"

Years later, Joe Montana (who didn't take my dad's good advice) sent him a manilla envelope in the mail. Inside was an 8x10 glossy photo of him wearing his football uniform, grinning, holding up his hand with a big, fat superbowl ring on each finger. On the back it was signed, "Dear Professor Shapiro, you were right. I joined the NFL, and now I can't close my fingers together to make a fist! -- Joe Montana"