Madden curse strikes again

by James Ransom-Wiley { Nov 17th 2005 at 3:45PM }

Today, doctors recommended that Donovan McNabb undergo surgery for the sports hernia he sustained at the beginning of the season. If McNabb does decide to go under the knife, it will likely end his season, which, all things considered, is already over. Has the Madden curse struck again?

The alleged curse has affected Madden cover athletes dating back to '00 when then Titan's running back, Eddie George, coming off of a Super Bowl appearance, proceeded to have his worst career season, averaging only 3 yards per carry. In 2001, Daunte Culpepper's season was cut short due to a knee injury. The following year, Marshall Faulk missed six games, and his Rams were quickly eliminated in the playoffs. Two years ago, Michael Vick kissed his season goodbye before it even began, breaking his leg in a pre-season scrimmage. However, last year, Ravens' linebacker Ray Lewis seemingly stood up to the curse; although his team finished with a mediocre 9-7 record and failed to make the playoffs.

[Thanks, master x 24]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Buck Q. Fitch @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Go Giants

JafCo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Clearly, the Madden curse only applies to offensive players. Defensive players such as Ray Lewis are immune.

bd (formerly b) @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

This means:

STOP DOING MEDIOCRE MADDEN SEQUELS (I guess mediocre could be implied when saying "madden sequels" anyway)

I'm sick of sports games. They are all the same, (except they have graphical and statistical upgrades; but that's pretty much it).

Casual gamers:

Are you stupid? Why do you keep buying that shit? don't you realize that you are being milked for getting the same product over and over again?

LDS @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

actually, it just took a little extra time to get to Ray Ray. He is hurting this year for sure.

Boy do i fell bad for LT next year.

Justin McElroy @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Are you allowed to have a conditional curse?

"All those who entered King Tut's Tomb would be cursed to live a life of unending misery! ...Except, of course for lone explorer Jerry Weisenbrook, who stumbled into the tomb in the mid 80s. Yeah, he's doing great. Beautiful wife, good kids. We don't really know what happened there. But everybody else? UNENDING MISERY."

theburn16 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

you play madden from 3 or 4 years ago and then tell me its the same as today. they're completely different games....obviously you haven't played madden recently

ScottiePP7 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

#3 - honestly I am not a casual gamer but I do buy madden every year.

Why?

You are partially right, the stat and player updates mean a lot to me. I am a Giants fan (go Madden curse!) and I wanted to play with Eli this year.

However the slight improvements, albeit a grave misuse of the term slight, are improvements. I know most people loathe the passing cone this year, but I find it another helpful challenge and even more fun when playing with friends (I like to use CB's now on defense to try and intercept passes and now they like to try to guide me away using the cone - its actually like a QB looking off defenders). And having my superstar fight for a new contract and getting offered one by the Giants was a lot of fun.

I am not saying this years release wasn�t weak compared to past releases, but I am saying as long as they do minor improvements each year and the huge one every 3 or 4 years like they have I will continue to buy.

And come on, is each GTA that different than another, you shoot, you steal car, blah blah blah.

This is problem with a lot of series of games, not just Madden

Madden NFL 06 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Full details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden_curse

master x 24 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Colts are the best team ever i have been a fan since 2001 when manning was on the cover of nfl fever 02

puh_fifer @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Well come on, this year's a gimmie.

If you involve the Eagles you're bound to be disappointed.

I just wish there was a curse on ESPN 2k5 and I could've seen T.O.'s head explode into a million bits. That a$$ is too much to deal with.

GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!(Get rid of the Giant's crappy leftovers)

DarkHorse @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Um didnt Ray Lewis go through Murder charges the year he was on the cover of Madden? I would say that counts...

DG @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

"Um didnt Ray Lewis go through Murder charges the year he was on the cover of Madden? I would say that counts..."

Nope. Even more egregious, he was on the cover of a video game AFTER he was charged with murder.

bd (formerly b) @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

"And come on, is each GTA that different than another, you shoot, you steal car, blah blah blah."

You are right about that one too. I had GTA3, and vice city; Vice City looks exactly the same. My bro bought San Andreas and I saw it and thought "WTF?". It's the same fucking game. I don't understand why shell out another 50 bucks for slight improvements. What's next, GTA for PSP? *sigh*

ozcaN @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

people who bash madden are just not sport fans. you just dont get it. these sequals mean a lot to fans.

Matt @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Yeah, no matter what, I love playin my new copy of Madden each year, because I love football. I MUST have a football game, and the old ones are outdated every year as far as rosters and features, even though the features never change quite that much. The graphics also do improve, as slight as it may be. Now Madden's the only game in town, otherwise I'd likely get NFL 2K6.

I'm lookin forward to the next-gen version... in fact, I picked it up today. In case you guys didn't know, the 360 version is in stores now, along with the other EA titles. Can't wait til the 22nd to play.

Jessica @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Put the Lions on the cover. They're so damn horrible they could break the curse.

ruben @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

yes i buy madden every year because playing with your teams hopefully improved stats is great, they better not put LT or gates on the cover

Scott @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I like what #1 had to say

Go Giants!!!!

Tamo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I personally enjoyed the 2k series better then Madden but both are the same in respects of being almost the game they were a year ago. But with the Xbox and all of the new systems haveing some type of internal memory, its possible for the developers to update the roster without having to sell an entire new game. Know why they don't? It begins with a $ and ends in a $, so as long as people are willing to pay $50 to $60(for next gen) for the reletivly same game then there is no reason for EA to go through with such a plan.