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2002 Dante Culpepper - 2001 Season - Vikings went 4-7, then Culpepper had a knee injury that he missed 5 games. Vikings went 5-11 that season.
2003 Marshall Faulk - 2002 Season - Plagued by an ankle injury he rushed for under 1000 yards (after having 4 straight season's of 1300 ) Rams went 7-9.
2004 Michael Vick - 2003 Season- One day after the game hit shelves Vick suffered a fractured right fibula in a preseason game. He only played in 5 games, while the Falcons went 5-11.
2005 Ray Lewis - 2004 Season - failed to have a single interception, sat out the final game with an injury. The Ravens went 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Lewis was also indicted for suspicion of aggravated assault and murder.
2006 Donovan McNabb - 2005 Season - Injured by a sports hernia in the first game of the season. Eventually re-injured and needing surgery, McNabb missed the final 7 games of the season. The Eagles finished 6-10.
2007 Shaun Alexander - 2006 Season - Broke his foot in the 3rd game of the season and missed the next 6 games. The Seahawks made the playoffs but lost in the divisional round. Has not played to his full potential since the 2006 season and has not fully recovered from the injury to his foot, either.
2008 Vince Young - 2007 Season - Injured his quad in the 5th game of the season which made him miss the Titans' next game, which was the first time in his career (since middle school) that an injury kept him from playing a game. That season the Titans went 9-7, making the playoffs, but lost in the wild card game.
2009 Brett Favre - Favre made the cover upon announcing his retirement. However, he changed his mind and signed with the New York Jets. They started off the season 8-3 but lost four of the last five games, largely due to a drop in Favre's performance. After the season, an MRI determined that Favre had a torn bicep.
2010 - Troy PolamaIu - Sprained his MCL in the season opener, Polamalu is expected to be out for 3-6 weeks. Co-cover athlete, Larry Fitzgerald, has caught 2 touchdowns in his first two games.
Woe be to the football player that makes the cover of Madden, for he is doomed.
The Madden Curse is a superstitious belief that athletes who are featured on the game's cover art will suffer a significant drop-off in performance the following season, typically due to a severe injury. Though it doesn't occur every year, there is an alarmingly regular occurrence of this phenomenon.
Examples
2001 Eddie George
2001 Eddie George - 2000 Season - bobbled a pass that was intercepted to end the Titans quest to the Super Bowl
2002 Dante Culpepper
2003 Marshall Faulk
2004 Michael Vick
2005 Ray Lewis
2006 Donovan McNabb
2007 Shaun Alexander
2008 Vince Young
2009 Brett Favre
2010 - Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald
Madden Curse games
Edit
| Name | Platforms | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Madden NFL 09 released on Aug. 12, 2008 |
PS3, XBOX, PSP, DS, PS2, X360 | EA Tiburon |
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Madden NFL 08 released on Aug. 14, 2007 |
XBOX, PC, PS2, DS, PSP, WII, MAC, PS3, X360, GC | EA Tiburon, Team Fusion |
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Madden NFL 07 released on Aug. 22, 2006 |
GBA, DS, WII, XBOX, PC, GC, X360, PS2, PSP, PS3 | EA Canada, HB Studios, EA Tiburon, Team Fusion |
|
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Madden NFL 06 released on Aug. 8, 2005 |
PS2, PC, X360, GC, DS, PSP, GBA, XBOX | EA Tiburon |
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Madden NFL 2005 (Collector's Edition) released on Aug. 9, 2004 |
PS2 | EA Tiburon |
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Madden NFL 2005 released on Aug. 9, 2004 |
PS1, ZOD, PC, GC, DS, PS2, GBA, XBOX | Exient Entertainment |
|
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Madden NFL 2004 released on Aug. 11, 2003 |
PC, GC, PS1, PS2, GBA, XBOX | EA Tiburon |
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Madden NFL 2003 released on Aug. 12, 2002 |
PC, GC, PS1, PS2, GBA, XBOX | EA Tiburon |
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Madden NFL 2002 released on Aug. 13, 2001 |
PC, GBC, GC, PS1, PS2, N64, GBA, XBOX | EA Tiburon |
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Madden NFL 2001 released on Aug. 23, 2000 |
N64, PS1, PC, PS2, GBC | EA Tiburon |
| Concept Name: | Madden Curse |
| Appears in: | 10 games |
| First appearance: | Madden NFL 2001 |
| Aliases |
