Madden curse strikes back, Polamalu suffers knee injury in season opener
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Sep 11th 2009 at 1:20PM }
Steelers fans witnessed a horrifying scene during last night's season-opening matchup against the Tennessee Titans -- while trying to recover a blocked field goal in the first half, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu sustained an injury to his left knee, preventing him from playing out the rest of the game. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Polamalu was featured on the cover of Madden 10 -- a promotion that has proven to be troubling for NFL players due to the titular "Madden curse."
Polamalu is expected to be out for 3 - 6 weeks, making this one of the least severe examples of cosmic retribution dished out by the curse to date. However, that could just be because said retribution has to be shared between two players this year. For the sake of our fantasy football standings, we urge Larry Fitzgerald to take every safety precaution imaginable during these trying times.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:23PM
Yes!
Steelers can suck it! Ravens all the way this year baby!
captainprotonx @ Sep 11th 2009 1:36PM
Yeah...I guess.
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:37PM
You're goddamned right, you guess!
captainprotonx @ Sep 11th 2009 1:40PM
Fine! Fine! I guess with authority. I don't even know football!
Odog4ever @ Sep 11th 2009 1:45PM
@ storm eagle
So your happy that a player got injured on the field?
Stay classy Ravens fans. Stay classy.
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:49PM
It's called a rivalry Odog. They'd say the same thing if it happened to Ray Lewis, Joe Flacco or Ed Reed.
Obviously he's going to be fine and it's only 3-6 weeks. So it can't be too too bad. But he's a premier player on the team, and every little bit helps.
melloncollie @ Sep 11th 2009 1:56PM
Yeah, because you, in any way, actually participate in the game's outcome. A guy is injured, don't be a fucking douche about it and grow up. You're acting like a child.
Residentevil72501 (PSN: rankore) @ Sep 11th 2009 1:59PM
My Fantasy team has Flacco and Big Ben. I am a fan of both teams :)
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Sep 11th 2009 1:59PM
TITANS GAT DAMMIT!!!
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 2:04PM
You know me so well melloncollie, let me tell you. By just reading my post on here, you can tell anyone everything there is to know about me and my character.
I'm not happy the guy's injured. I'm happy because it's one less weapon in the Steelers' armory and may give the Ravens a better chance of actually winning atleast ONE game against them this season.
And by insulting me and putting me down, let me tell you how much bigger of a person that makes you look, really.
MLS @ Sep 11th 2009 2:07PM
I would not be happy if Flacco or Reed went down. That is because The Steelers do not fear The Ravens.
Ian @ Sep 11th 2009 2:16PM
MLS:
You play for the Steelers? Honestly, the Steeler fanbase is usually one of the most football delusional fanbases (aside from the Cowboys). Most seem to believe that simply because someone plays for the Steelers, they're automatically top 5 in that position in all of football. Ben isn't that great... he's just big, and when the Titans only rush 3 or 4 guys that are already gassed at the end of the game, he can sit there for 10 seconds and pick apart man coverage. The Steelers got outplayed the entire game, AGAIN, but they made the plays at the end of the game when it mattered.
When they played the Eagles last year, they got wrecked by the Philly D, and you should be glad they didn't beat the Cards in the NFC Championship.
MLS @ Sep 11th 2009 3:47PM
I didn't say anything about Ben. But since you are pushing me into it, yes I think he is a good quarterback (and I think I am being a bit modest by saying just "good").
Pitt has proved themselves again and again over the last five years. All the "they got lucky on a few plays" or "it was the other team that messed up, that's all" excuses have long worn thin by now. You don't become the first 6th seed playoff team to win a Super Bowl with only a bit of dumb luck. You don't win another after one of the toughest regular season schedules of the year with dumb luck either.
They're a resilient team with individual flaws. That's why they make the plays that matter. That's also why I haven't chewed my fingernails raw over Troy's injury. But I do admit it's going to make the season much more interesting!
M @ Sep 11th 2009 4:27PM
RE Odog4ever
Did you see the blatant facemask grab by Polamalu earlier in the game? I'm glad he's hurt. Karma's a bitch.
Dartmerc @ Sep 11th 2009 9:27PM
It's a good thing I don't want to read Storm Eagles comments, because they are really hard to see.
svenhoek @ Sep 13th 2009 6:13PM
Ahhh Storm, Im so sorry that WE OWN THE DIVISION, beat you 3 times last year, and won the Superbowl.
What I'm saying, is I'm sorry Pittsburgh is so obviously the superior team to the Ratbirds. Enjoy you're aging defense and lackluster-for-all-the-hype offense.
Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Sep 11th 2009 1:25PM
Spooky!
Next year they should put Bobby Kotick or Gabe Newell on the cover. I'd gladly have them "injured".
I would even buy the game if that helped the odds.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:28PM
You don't usually post stupid comments, so don't start now.
Everybody gets one. Tell 'em Peter.
dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 11th 2009 1:29PM
Maybe they should put Kurt Cobain on the cover, right?
Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Sep 11th 2009 1:29PM
Sir, yes, sir. My bad-joke-meter is displaying off the scale readings today.
Apologies.
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:31PM
I think everyone is fine with Bobby Kotick falling victim to the curse, but we all want to see more Valve.
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 1:32PM
inchworm, sooooo, Kurt would fall off stage in GH5 and twist his ankle and he'd be out for the imaginary tour season? eh!?
Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Sep 11th 2009 1:34PM
I don't have anything against Valve as a company. I love their games.
dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 11th 2009 1:37PM
I'm sure he'd return in time for an appearance in GH6, alive and well. Or at least well. Or maybe simply with permission... if even that...
RANDOM G [XBL: NYMZ777, PSN: NYMALICIOUS] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:25PM
It does exist.
captainprotonx @ Sep 11th 2009 1:42PM
They do exist. *faint*
PedoJokerBear [Planeteer | Power of Gall Bladder] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:58PM
lmaoooooooooooooooooooo^
E-Rock @ Sep 11th 2009 2:43PM
Uhhhh...Santa?
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 1:26PM
Ah crap I hope that doesn't mean Fitz is due :( That'd cripple my imaginary football team.
GiggMan @ Sep 11th 2009 1:26PM
I can hear everyone in the locker room saying "I told you so"!
tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 11th 2009 1:28PM
The madden curse never fails to claim its victim, rest assured that it will get Larry in some form over the course of the year. It's not just injury either, the player might have a bad stretch that costs his team a playoff spot (looking at you Favre).
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:30PM
Lets just hope it doesn't take his hair.
vidGuy @ Sep 11th 2009 1:33PM
Favre was injured. He played through a torn bicep that severely dampened his game. He also lost a lot of respect and legendary-gloss through the whole retire-unretire-new team thing. Pretty bad year overall.
tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 11th 2009 1:37PM
I've hated Favre for as long as I can remember (ever since my Broncos beat them in the super bowl :D) but these last couple years he's really shown his true colors to everyone. He's basically a white TO, but he tries to hide it behind this whole "aww shucks I'm just a dumb redneck" facade.
The madden curse hit him last year, but it was a combination of that and his asshole-ish nature by refusing to sit out when hurt and break his streak that cost the Jets. Hell, even now he's costing them by ratting them out about the whole injury report thing.
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 1:49PM
I'll have you know I proudly ordered a purple & gold "F*** you, Brett Favre" shirt off of my favorite sports blog. While I don't live in MN anymore, it still manages to garner an incredible amount of favorable attention whenever I go out on the weekends. People just love it. I seriously despise the fact that the stupid dbag now plays QB for my hometown squad. Everybody back in MN however seems to be sucking down some serious #4 koolaid, it makes me sick.
On a side note, apologies are in order. While I have certainly disagreed with a lot of what you have said in the past, and likely still to this day, you do not compare to a lot of the absolute idiots that seem to be running the comments sections as of late. There's a handful of PS3 fanbots that simply like to berate people, and be fanbots, as well as dbags like Spyder Taco that are just dbags for dbags sake. I don't know if Joystiq is seriously going downhill, or if its just a result of some newer commenters. I tip my hat.
crobob @ Sep 11th 2009 1:58PM
Thats a load of crap. Elway played the last 2 years with the same injury to his bicep. You throw a football with your tricep and Elway and the doctors said it really didnt affect his throwing. Favre just needs to quit and go home.
tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 11th 2009 2:00PM
It's cool, I understand. I'm sure if enough people, more than just me or a couple others, report them when they get out of hand they'll do something. Hell, I even got a warning a couple weeks ago...first one ever so I'm sure they'll do something if enough people complain.
You're right though, it has gotten progressively worse over the last few weeks.
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington, Soon-To-Be-PSN: OrIsItAltonBrown] @ Sep 11th 2009 2:17PM
Am I an asshole, Markez :(.
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 2:19PM
Oh hell no, we just need to getting around to playing CC one o' these days. Lest the rest of my time be spent on Dead Space (which makes me feel icky) or Oblivion.
aristokrat @ Sep 11th 2009 2:24PM
Maybe in the short term Favre's lost respect, but why don't some of you armchair QB's tell me what it's like trying to retire from the thing you love when you still think you can do it better than most everyone else.
Michael Jordan did the same thing, and nobody even talks about it anymore (and the same will happen with Favre a couple of years after he's actually done). I think most sports commentators are just jealous they're not good enough to have the dilemma that Favre has right now.
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 2:31PM
The facts: Favre only cares about 2 games on the schedule. He's an ego maniac, and this point isn't debatable. He knows he's too old and beaten up, but doesn't care for this reason.
And you think commentators are jealous? Really? That's remarkably out of scope and a pretty silly assertion as to why the media have been as judgmental as they have. Favre's mind is like a teenage girls, it changes every 10 minutes.
Mr Khan @ Sep 11th 2009 3:41PM
Favre had his chance, i say. I never follow the NBA, so the whole thing with Michael Jordan and the wizards never really felt particularly damning to me, but Favre is just determined to ruin his own legend.
aristokrat @ Sep 11th 2009 4:51PM
They said the same things about Jordan. Too much ego to let it go, can't make up his mind, etc. Same outcome, he came back, did pretty well, eventually retired. Hell, Jordan even went and played another sport! Favre did fine last year, compared to other QB's in the league, though of course it wasn't his best season ever. Would you rather he'd retired in '96 right after he won the Super Bowl? The clichéd going out at the so-called top of your game? If I had devoted the first 40 years of my life to something and it was the thing I loved most in the world, I wouldn't just walk out on it, I'd keep doing it until I couldn't do it anymore, which is what he's doing. This whole media circus surrounding it is created by the sports news (I'm looking at you ESPN), and I think that subconsciously they are jealous that this 40 year old dude who is way better at football than they could ever dream of is bucking the trend and isn't just walking into the night. A lot of guys don't even get the option to retire, there just simply stop being contracts.
Maybe you're not a passionate man, and therefore you don't understand this concept. Of course it's about him, because it's about his career and his future. I say as long as people are willing to pay him to play, let him play, because I know damn well that's what I'd want to do.
Viney @ Sep 11th 2009 5:22PM
Elway was a bitch. I still can't respect a guy that refuses to play for the team he was drafted by. He didn't have to worry about being injured the last couple years of his career because Terrell Davis carried that team on his back.
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 5:45PM
Maybe I'm not a passionate man? lolololol, that's hilarious. The commentators aren't jealous because they can't do it themselves, it's because they're critical of someone who demands to be in the limelight, who lies and makes excuses for himself. It's a fact that he creates most of the news about himself, if you haven't noticed. He flip-flopped and lied on a minimum of three occasions to the Vikes in just this one off-season. And now he's creating news about himself again by saying he doesn't know if he'll play a full off-season after being paid 13 million this year to do so?
I could care less about when he would've retired, I just think it's asinine for my organization to have signed him and act like he's the missing piece. FYI, take a look at his post-season stats since that superbowl, they're awwwfuuuulll.
Markez @ Sep 11th 2009 5:47PM
Not to mention the Vikes are the only squad in the NFL out of 32 teams that were willing to even to consider him...
vidGuy @ Sep 11th 2009 1:31PM
As Rodney Dangerfield would say, they didn't give the Madden Curse no respect. This is what happens.
Rein [Prime Minister of the city-state of New Bjork] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:32PM
So this Madden Curse is like a sports version of a Death Note (minus the death)? Interesting, interesting.
*runs off to Madden's cover printing factory to concoct his evil schemes*
Rein [Prime Minister of the city-state of New Bjork] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:33PM
Yes, yes! Now Susie will never make it to the dance recital! Mwahahaha!
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 11th 2009 1:37PM
NOOOOOooooooooo!