Through 1999, John Madden appeared on every cover of the EA football video game franchise. In 2000, EA decided to feature athletes on the covers, who then all seemed to have problematic seasons - giving rise to the famous “Madden Curse”. Don’t believe in curses? Here are the facts, judge for yourself.

2000: Barry Sanders

John Madden reprises his role on the cover, with Barry as a background image. Barry promptly retires for no good reason right before the season he was probably going to break Walter Payton’s then-all-time rushing record. Thanks, John!

Barry Sanders	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Games:	16	16	16	16	N/A
Rushing Yards:	1,500	1,553	2,053	1,491	N/A
Rushing Avg:	4.8	5.1	6.1	4.3	N/A
Receiving Yards:	398	147	305	289	N/A
Touchdowns:	12	11	14	4	N/A

2001: Eddie George

Eddie had his worst statistical season up to that point. Previously never having less than 1300 rushing yards, he finished with 939 and 5 TDs, (11 less than the previous season!). The Titans finished 7-9 and failed to make the playoffs. Worst of all, George couldn't handle a pass at the of the last game, resulting in a Ray Lewis touchdown that effectively ended the Titan’s season. Let’s not forget the Titans were in the Super Bowl the year before. George retired 3 years later at an early age from the wear and tear on his body.

Eddie George	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Games:	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Rushing Yards:	1,399	1,294	1,304	1,509	939	1,165	1,031
Rushing Avg:	3.9	3.7	4.1	3.7	3.0	3.4	3.3
Receiving Yards:	44	310	458	453	279	255	163
Total Touchdowns:	7	6	13	16	5	14	5

2002: Daunte Culpepper

Fresh Ground Culpepper suffered a severe decline in his output (14 TDs, 13 INTs) from the previous season (33 TDs, 16 INTs). He also suffered a serious injury that made him miss 5 games, giving the Vikings one of their worst seasons in nearly 20 years. After two awful knee injuries and a short-lived retirement, he is now the back-up QB for the Detroit Lions - who last year became the only team in history to win ZERO games!

Daunte Culpepper	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Games:	16	11	16	14	16	7	4
Passing Yards:	3,937	2,612	3,853	3,479	4,717	1,564	929
Interceptions:	16	13	23	11	11	12	3
Total Touchdowns:	40	19	28	29	41	7	3
QB Rating:	98.0	83.3	75.3	96.4	110.9	72.0	77.0

2003: Marshall Faulk

Marshall Marshall Marshall had one of the worst statistical seasons of his career (topped 1000 yards in 7 of previous 8 seasons with over 1300 in each of last 4 seasons), and a nagging ankle injuring plagued him all season. His TD total (10) was less than half of his previous season’s (21). He never seemed to be able to get healthy after this year and never cracked the 1000 yard mark EVER AGAIN in his career. Injuries forced him into retirement.

2004: Michael Vick

The Michael Vick Experience broke his leg during a pre-season game before the real season even started, and missed most it as a result. The previous year he had the best statistical season of his career (3700 combined yards and 24 TDs). Vick never again even came close to those numbers, and a couple of years later he was found guilty of “masterminding” a dog-fighting ring and sentenced to 23 months in prison. Upon his release he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, and is currently Donovan McNabb's (future Madden victim) backup.

Michael Vick	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Games:	8	15	5	15	15	16	0
Passing Yards:	785	2,936	585	2,313	2,412	2,474	J
Interceptions:	3	8	3	12	13	13	A
Total Touchdowns:	3	16	4	15	19	15	I
QB Rating:	62.7	81.6	69.0	78.1	73.1	75.7	L

2005: Ray Lewis

OK, so Ray-Ray might be the “exception” - relatively speaking. He only missed 1 game to injury, but suffered a decline in the amount of tackles and turnovers from his previous seasons. He also failed to intercept a pass for the first time in his career. However, he did manage to avoid murder and aggravated assault charges by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and snitching on his co-defendants, so I guess we chalk this one up as a win.

Ray Lewis	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Games:	16	5	16	15	4	14	14
Total Tackles:	162	58	163	147	46	103	121
Sacks:	3.5	0.0	1.5	1.0	1.0	5.0	2.0
Interceptions:	3	2	6	0	1	2	2
Def. Touchdowns:	0	0	1	0	0	0	1

2006: Donovan McNabb

Let’s just recall that Donovan’s previous season was a career year for him (over 4000 combined yards and 34 TDs) and the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl. That being said, after appearing on the Madden cover, Rush Limbaugh’s favorite QB suffered a sports hernia early on and threw 9 picks in the 9 games he played, (he threw 8 INTs the entire previous season). Tough guy that he is, he tried to play through it, but that mercifully ended when the Dallas Cowboys knocked him out of the game in week 10 and he decided to have surgery to repair the hernia. The Eagles - Super Bowl contenders the previous year - finished 5-11. Oh, and let’s not forget that circus feud with T.O.

Donovan McNabb	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Games:	16	10	16	15	9	10	14
Passing Yards:	3,233	2,289	3,216	3,875	2,507	2,647	3,324
Interceptions:	12	6	11	8	9	6	7
Total Touchdowns:	27	23	19	34	17	21	19
QB Rating:	84.3	86.0	79.6	104.7	85	95.5	89.9

2007: Shaun Alexander

The previous year, SALEX had MVP stats - over 1800 rushing yards and a then NFL record 27 TDs. Played every game. In fact, he had over 1200 yards in each of the previous 5 seasons with never less than 14 TDs. After the cover? Missed 5 games with a broken foot, scored 7 TDs and didn’t crack 900 yards. Didn’t crack 800 yards the following year. Currently not on any NFL roster. Ouch!

Shaun Alexander	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Games:	16	16	16	16	16	10	13
Rushing Yards:	1,318	1,175	1,435	1,696	1,880	896	716
Avg Per Carry:	4.3	4.0	4.4	4.8	5.1	3.6	3.5
Total Touchdowns:	16	18	16	20	28	7	5

2008: Vince Young

Though the former NCAA national champion and Rose Bowl MVP did not have a good rookie season, (2200 passing yards, 12 TDs, 13 INTs), his second NFL season was even worse. Though the Madden cover-boy stayed relatively healthy, he threw 9 TDs and 17 (!!!) interceptions. He ended up ranking 27^th in TDs (there are only 32 teams in the NFL) and tied for 7^th with legendary pick machine Kurt Warner in INTs. Then Vince went crazy. He went AWOL from the team, talked about killing himself and/or retiring from football, and generally scared the hell out of his agent. Once it was impressed upon him just how much money was in question here, he came back to the Titans and is now the backup QB.

Vince Young	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Games:	College	at UT	15	15	3
Passing Yards:	-	-	2,546	2,199	219
Interceptions:	-	-	17	13	2
Total Touchdowns:	-	-	19	12	1
QB Rating:	-	-	66.7	71.1	64.5

2009: Brett Favre

Dude played 16 legendary years in Green Bay and was the face of the franchise for every one of them. People in Wisconsin named their kids and pets after him. So he gets tapped for the Madden cover and promptly retires. Then he un-retires, causing a media circus. Then he gets traded to one of the New York Jets - one of worst teams in the AFC. Brett plays half the season with a torn bicep, which the Jets front office conveniently leaves off the injury report and throws for as many interceptions as touchdowns, (22), and a dismal 61 QB rating over his last five games. After the 2009 season, Brett retired... again. Since it was a slow sporting news summer, rumors swirl about yet another return - this time with the Minnesota Vikings. Brett responds that he will stay retired. Two weeks before the beginning of the 2010 season, Brett Favre was announced as the starting quarterback for the Vikings. People in Green Bay are throwing themselves out of windows as we speak.

Brett Favre	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Games:	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Passing Yards:	3,658	3,361	4,088	3,881	3,885	4,155	3,472
Interceptions:	16	21	17	29	18	15	22
Total Touchdowns:	27	32	30	20	19	28	22
QB Rating:	85.6	90.4	92.4	70.9	72.7	95.7	81.0

2010: Troy Polamalu

This year, the Madden team at EA decided to hedge their bets and have two players on the cover - one defensive and one offensive. The duo they chose both played in the the previous Super Bowl: wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and safety Troy Polamalu. Both these guys are young and the best players at their position in the league. What could go wrong? Well, I'm glad you asked! First game of the 2010 season against Tennessee, Polamalu looked every bit the perennial pro-bowler; flying all over the field, stopping runs, batting passes and coming up with one of the greatest one-handed interceptions ever. Then he sprained his MCL trying to recover a blocked field goal attempt. No word yet on Troy's timetable for return... but usually that kind of injury takes at least 3-6 weeks. At the time of writing, Fitzgerald has not yet played his first game of the season. I hope he has insurance.

The curse lives on!