Curses! Madden cover jinx strikes again

by Dan Dormer on Oct 16th 2007 7:08PM

Ah, the best laid plans of game developers and men. Originally selected because of his youth, Vince Young succumbed to the "Madden Curse" this past weekend, suffering a strained right quadriceps muscle in a 13-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (we should have placed that bet!).

He's listed as day-to-day by the Titans, but let this be a lesson to any future cover boys out there: the Curse remains. Just ask Garrison Hearst, Barry Sanders, Dorsey Levens, Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander, or of course, Vince Young.

Source

Tags: Madden, madden-curse, MaddenCurse, NFL, Vince Young

Reader Comments (56)

This is getting kind of spooky, guys. Kind of REAL spooky.

*cue Twilight Zone Theme Song*

*barry sanders

really ask Micheal Vick it fucked him over twice lol

lol, Michael Vick

That shit ain't funny. Imagine going to prison over some damn dogs. That's some grade A bullshit. I feel sorry for him. Wasting my tax dollars because he killed dogs that nobody would have wanted. Whatever.

"Wasting your tax dollars," Silvrgun? That's a waste of your tax dollars? Are you in the same state as the Vick trial? What about $200,000,000 every day that we spend in Iraq? Maybe rethink your priorities if you're going to pick Vick's case as a 'waste of your tax dollars.'

Seriously Slvrgun, WTF!?! I hope you don't have any pets.

You are right, Vick shouldn't go to jail over just a bunch of dogs. He should be going on RICO charges. Fact is, he and his "boys" set up and illegal gambling operation and they should be doing federal time.

I can't decide between "Oh snap" or "That's for appearing in a EA game biotch".

I vote for "That's for appearing in a EA game biotch".

I'd wait until he misses a game to say the curse has come into effect. You are reaching a bit with this one. Every little bad thing that happens to the cover boy does not mean the curse was invoked. Save that for the following: season ending injuries, an entire season of piss-poor performances, or time in federal prison. You are watering it down by saying a bruised leg qualifies. Especially when you know he's going to come back and play against Houston...his home town team that also passed him in the draft.

You and your cold logic. Repent!

It's a bit too early to tell if this injury could qualify as the Madden curse. If he's back within a week or two, I'd chalk it up to the fact that he plays professional football, not appearing on the cover of a game.

I totally agree, it may be reaching a bit to include being listed 'day-to-day'as part of 'the curse' just yet, especially when the reality is NFL injuries are up all across the board over the last several years. Good article early this year in ESPN magazine on steroids and injuries, if you like that sort of reading.

It's only the curse if his whole season goes down the crapper because of this injury. If he gets healthy within a few games, and has a great remaining season, then what?

I think the bigger curse is that he doesn't have much help personel wise. Not to mention how many players have been injured this year. It's getting ridiculous.

Now I wonder if the Madden Curse will affect Luis Castillo, cover star of Madden en español 08.

He's day-to-day. This really isn't on-par with prior injuries and things the Madden curse has yielded.

Not much of a curse. He might not even miss a single full game.

Who the hell is Barry Sander?

This has always been an entertaining curse, but of course those things are made to be broken (Red Sox in 2004)

Although this is more a Sports curse than a video game curse, i would like to see a topic about people's superstitions in games (like me and OoT's Spirit Temple, every time except once that i've beaten it, and that once was technically Master Quest, something bad's happened either in-game or out)

haha man Michael Vick sucks, he wasn't even that good of a QB

now if this curse is true someone please put Brady on it

This is honestly the most persistent curse I have ever heard of. It is somewhat scary when you really think about it.

However, this injury is not very severe. Eddie George actually wasn't totally rocked by the curse either, though he was hurt and lost over a yard per carry which is massive for a RB.

The season is still Young though. See what I did there. Watch your back Vince.

I think they should just start featuring crappy players and see if the curse works in reverse.

Did you guys really type Barry Sander?

For the people who don't believe in the Curse.

Vince Young was injured when he slipped AFTER carrying the ball out of bounds on the sideline. He wasnt even hit. The Curse is real.

i was just gonna say that. the verdict=the curse

He didn't slip on the sidelines he was just trying to stop running...like all of EAs games.

Dorsey Levens was on a Madden Cover? I didn't know that!! I remember the days when Levens was catching passes out on the flat from Favre. Favre still stands tall!!! Let's go Green Bay Packers!!!

If my memory and wikipedia serve me well, Vince Young was selected as the cover athlete because LaDainian Tomlinson turned it down, for fear of the curse. When players are turning down big money to be on a video game cover on account of a "curse", I'd say it has some real power.

I agreee, though, this probably won't be a season-ender like the others. But he'll be weakened by it and could end up with a season-ender after a big sack or a scramble the wrong direction.

I DID see that an ESPN newswriter mentioned the Madden curse on his blog within minutes of Young's injury.

It wasn't completely about the curse.
It had more to do with money.

EA wasn't going to pay LT much (for what he's worth) to go around to their events, promote the game, or anything else EA wanted. A few commercials are good for the players that popular but being with EA wasn't worth it.

Oh you read that on Wikipedia? Hold on a second, I'll go change it.

I remember reading speculation that it wasn't enough money for LT due to the amount of travel and promotion the cover star needs to commit to with EA... But who knows, it was speculation. I can tell you that's the first I've heard it was a 'fear of the curse.' I definitely believe that you probably saw that on Wikipedia though.

whats a madden?

Fact: American Football is lame.

(not opinion, FACT! :p)

Fact: (American) Football is the most watched and most played sport in the country with the biggest culture influence on the world.

On the *world*? Really now... Most of the *world* would probably disagree with you.

soccer = gay

FACT

also hockey and nascar

Biggest Fast Food, McDonalds - USA
Biggest Retail Store, Wal-Mart - USA
Biggest Film Hub, Most Recognizable Celebrities - California, USA
Blue Jeans - USA
iPod - USA
Some of the best known authors, musicians, and Nobel prize winners - USA
Weblogs, Inc, of which Joystiq is a part - USA
Internet - USA

Every country has its claim to fame, but to deny that the US has a dramatic cultural influence on the world? Oh, you silly Arno...

I don't disagree with you there. You made it seem as if Football was a major influence on the world, that's all I was replying to.

Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Soccer/footy: awesome, Football: awesome, NBA: awesome, etc... Everybody wins! No need to argue!

Watch 'em all!

My Pro Sports, Let Me Show You Them...

Saying Soccer = gay? You're an idiot. It's the only sport that exists on an international level... Where we put our best against others best on a regular basis. It's existed for hundreds of years with virtually no rule changes, and for some reason you still doubt it's sway? Naive much? It's so funny how slammed something gets for not being created in America. Talk about a self-absorbed country.

"Some of the best known authors, musicians, and Nobel prize winners - USA"
Saying 'some of the...' doesn't mean much when you live in the land of the free time. We're a country that revels in it's own glory and our only take to fame really is our pursuit of entertainment gives us the ability to excel in such fields.

It's Barry Sanders, not Sander

Barry Sanders never fell to the Madden curse. He retired before the season started.

Put Favre on the cover and put him out of his damn misery already.

NEVER!!!! Favre is so powerful, he would break the Madden Curse into two!!!

Then he'd throw an interception right into the Madden Curse's waiting arms!

I'm really glad the Pack is 4-1, but why'd Favre have to thrown that ball to Urlacher? The Packers should never lose to the fricking Bears.

Damn, 5-1. Pretty good start, huh? Guess it means this really is Favre's last year.

Barely any players go without getting hurt. If it were a serious injury, I could see this as a real curse.

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Curses! Madden cover jinx strikes again

Reader Comments (56)

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