5 Madden Curse victims ft. Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski
The 'Madden Curse' is a well-known idea amongst NFL fans and gamers across the world.
The curse, apparently, leads to the cover star of a year's video game having a terrible season in the following campaign. The curse is strange because only the best players in the league get to grace EA Sports' franchise football game, but the curse knows no bounds.
Many players have had elite seasons before landing the gig to be the cover star of Madden, and then almost immediately have fallen into obscurity. Here, we look at five prominent 'victims' of this supposed curse and look at how this 'curse' affected them.
#5 - Shaun Alexander (Madden 07)
Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander was one of the outstanding backs in the NFL during the mid-2000s, clocking up five consecutive seasons with 15+ touchdowns.
In 2005, Alexander won NFL Most Valuable Player honors, as he had 1,880 yards and an amazing 27 touchdowns.
However, the curse would strike early during the following season, as Alexander would break his foot in Week 3, just weeks after being named Madden cover athlete. He suffered with various injuries towards the tail-end of his career and was out of the NFL after the 2008 season.
"In an interview in 2007, Alexander said of the curse: “Do you want to be hurt and on the cover, or just hurt?”
#4 - Donovan McNabb (Madden 06)
Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb struggled with multiple injuries after being named as the cover star for Madden 06.
Soon after the announcement, McNabb had a very public falling out with star receiver Terrell Owens, and ended 2005 on the injured reserve list with a groin injury.
The next year, he tore his ACL and meniscus in his right knee and was once again sidelined for the remainder of the season. He would battle through injuries but would retire in 2011.