Madden Curse Continues to Mysteriously Injure NFL Players

[Doctor Setebos]

Hey, did anyone watch the Steelers/Titans game last night? Did you happen to notice Troy Polamalu get his knee violently re-calibrated? Did you also happen to take a quick glance up at your copy of Madden 10 and notice that he's on the cover?

That's right, folks. Just a friendly reminder that the Madden Curse is real.

Source - 1up

[DoctorFinger]

Dammit, I've got Boldin & the Pittsburgh 'D' on my fantasy team.

[roboninja]

Luckily, it seems like only MCL sprain on Polamalu. They are hoping 3-6 weeks.

[Re3x]

I have to admit it is really weird that players seem to fall off or get hurt after being on Madden.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

Dammit, I've got Boldin & the Pittsburgh 'D' on my fantasy team.

You should be good with Boldin considering it is Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. on the Madden cover

[shunoshi]

Look out Larry....heeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!

[Kielaran]

yeah, I noticed this last night, but was too tired/sick to post it. Oddly enough there is apparently a similar curse with the Sports Illustrated covers as well, which he was also featured on.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Kielaran

yeah, I noticed this last night, but was too tired/sick to post it. Oddly enough there is apparently a similar curse with the Sports Illustrated covers as well, which he was also featured on.

There's also the Campbell's Chunky Soup Curse!

[johnperkins21]

Originally Posted by Re3x

I have to admit it is really weird that players seem to fall off or get hurt after being on Madden.

Not really. As players get older and put more stress on their body, their susceptibility to injury increases. Troy Polamalu is a very physical player who spends a lot of time at the line of scrimmage, in the middle of 350+ pound men trying to beat the living crap out of each other. An injury like this is not unexpected.

Another part of the supposed curse is that they usually put players on the cover who did exceptionally well the year before. With free agency, and the inherent danger of the sport, it's rare that a player can put together back-to-back awesome seasons. Look at Tom Brady. A year after throwing 50 TDs, he goes out in the first quarter of the first game of the season.

It's not really strange to see a guy take the league by storm one year, then get injured or have mediocre stats the next. It's actually fairly common, so the chances of a dude being selected for the cover, then having an injury or sub-par year is pretty good.

[Sandman]

I'm surprised no one has killed two birds with one stone with the headline : "Madden sales down, so is cover athlete"

[BabyJesus]

If they would make a football game that actually had AI that would adjust to the game you're playing and do smart things like pick proper angle of attack, or even play smart with clock management maybe they'd sell some more. This year is missing features that were added last year and still has killer plays you can run over and over while the AI D does nothing to adjust.

And I want my in helmet cam back damn it!

[Doctor Setebos]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I'm surprised no one has killed two birds with one stone with the headline : "Madden sales down, so is cover athlete"

Well, dammit - where were you an hour ago?

[Kagger]

It looked very painful. They showed the guy falling on his leg, and the leg buckling.

[mightbe]

The real madden curse is the shitty sales numbers, imo.

[opsin]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

You should be good with Boldin considering it is Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. on the Madden cover

Yea, except word is Boldin is still struggling with a hamstring injury... I also had him picked in a fantasy league, and was annoyed to hear. I think I'm going to leave him in this week and see.

[Troggles]

I think the curse is all on my fantasy team. Polamalu, Pierre Thomas, Bernard Berrian, T.O., Marshawn Lynch (3 game suspension), and Tom Brady.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Troggles

I think the curse is all on my fantasy team. Polamalu, Pierre Thomas, Bernard Berrian, T.O., Marshawn Lynch (3 game suspension), and Tom Brady.

Berrian will supposedly be good to go on Sunday, so you should be good there. Word is that the pass timing between him and Favre are not at an ideal level though...although that could be smoke and mirrors to fool people.

[fishinBULL]

They should put madden on the cover next year...

[Felonous]

The real curse is on the gamers who buy this rehashed crap every year.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Felonous

The real curse is on the gamers who buy this rehashed crap every year.

Good one, maybe you should try Madden 10 before giving us your opinion. Only then would such a statement be valid or useful in this case. In past years I would have let such a statement go, but Madden 10 is a huge step in the right direction and easily the best version since it made the jump to the current generation of systems.