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Analyzing the Madden Curse - Is it Real?

randomnessblog.com — The Madden Curse. We ’ve all heard about it. But does 'the curse' hold any weight or is it all just sheer coincidence? Here's a breakdown of those players whom have been feature on the cover of Madden, and how they did that season.

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  • mattnyc99, on 08/12/2008, -13/+16get brett favre out of that packers jersey and into JETS GREEN!
  • casey2kazan, on 08/12/2008, -9/+11NYC will love Brett! Wouldn't it be magic if he took them to the SB...
    • Bukowsky, on 08/12/2008, -2/+8The Madden Curse would never allow that to happen.... but I wouldn't mind seeing it.
      • ajwinder, on 08/13/2008, -0/+4Yeah, and beyond the Madden Curse, theres that little thing called "Reality" that would block the NYJ from getting to the super bowl this year...
      • cococrispies, on 08/13/2008, -0/+3and by "reality" you mean the new england patriots
      • PhillAholic, on 08/15/2008, -0/+1@ajwinderajwinder as a colts fan, there would be nothing I would like more other than the colts winning another superbowl then to see the Jets beat out the Pats in the AFC East.
    • ahoy, on 08/13/2008, -2/+3no, ***** you.
    • mccartyba, on 08/13/2008, -0/+3The Jets are an okay team; Brett Favre will not bring them to a SB. After all, he will retire next season anyway and then probably pull some of the same crap.
  • jonxblaze, on 08/12/2008, -4/+30I predict Favre will injure his right knee and will have to sit down the rest of his season.
  • Shiner76, on 08/12/2008, -0/+21Positive - Favre plays a fairly easy schedule based on 2007 records; Negative - so do all the teams except the Titans. The Jets have a bye in week 5, so he'll be getting pretty banged up towards the latter half of the season.
  • tbhurst, on 08/12/2008, -0/+44Maybe the curse has already taken place? They decide to put a retired guy on the cover and then he comes out of retirement but doesn't get picked up by the team he is wearing a jersey for on the cover. Well researched piece, thanks.
  • FlaG8r, on 08/12/2008, -5/+45I'm pretty sure forcing Favre to live in New York City counts as the curse coming true.
  • sgiffy, on 08/12/2008, -3/+15Replace 'curse' with 'regression to the mean'.
  • sq2shooter, on 08/13/2008, -13/+7Since there is no such thing as a curse, I am going with no. Coincidence - yes.
  • orlando69, on 08/13/2008, -1/+11While I do not believe in the curse, I will not be drafting Farve in my fantasy football league just to be on the safe side
  • thebestever, on 08/13/2008, -0/+13Madden has also brought to popular American attention the poultry dish turducken
  • Miamisun, on 08/13/2008, -0/+13I said to myself...With a retired Farve on the cover this will finally put an end to all that curse BS. Boy was I wrong.
  • poorlilmonkey, on 08/13/2008, -0/+10I think it was the curse that made John Madden fatter on each cover he was on

    http://www.holytaco.com/2008/08/06/20-years-of-mad ...
    • krismanx, on 08/13/2008, -0/+3looks like he lost some weight in '94
      95 avoids the subject all together
    • augmental, on 08/13/2008, -0/+1He aged greatly with each consecutive cover as well. If you look through each cover in progression it is as though his lifeforce is being sucked dry. He looks so happy and lively in '90 and then by '94 he is almost dead.
  • Brassbud, on 08/13/2008, -1/+5Madden selects players who's egos and over exposure have become too large for there own good to be on the cover. I would argue that the curse isn't what happens to you afterwards, its being selected to be on the cover in the first place.

    Naturally, those on the cover then experience their downfall.
    • Claude1971, on 08/13/2008, -0/+1I'm pretty sure John Madden doesn't tell the EA monopoly who to put on the cover. They've been using his same canned ***** voice-overs in the games for years, has he even been involved with the game since 1997 or so? other than collecting fat royalty checks that is!
  • MendotaLee, on 08/13/2008, -6/+4This is the real reason the Packers got rid of Favre. That and he's a bitch.
  • chocobomog, on 08/13/2008, -4/+7http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/maddencurse. ...

    "such superstitions are in a sense inevitable. Players are generally selected for honors when they're at the pinnacles of their careers — when continued excellence has become the expected norm, and when anything less is considered disappointing. There's nowhere to go from such lofty heights but down: Every player is subject to injury (especially in a contact sport such as football), all athletes eventually experience the decline of their skills with age (if injuries don't prematurely end their careers first), and even top performers are not immune to having off-years or making occasional blunders in crucial game situations. "Bad luck" happens to just about everyone sooner or later, but we only take especial note of it when it seems to fit a pattern."
    • goliathlyricist, on 08/13/2008, -0/+2I posted this on the site, but just checked back to see if anyone else knew about it:

      After having a stellar season and earning a spot on a cover, the bar is high. You only get cover deals at your peak. It’s hard to beat your best season.

      not to mention, the 4 stats for each year are not consistent. Sure it’s easy to pick 4 different stats for each player per year that are worse than the rest.

      I’m sure if you extended those stats in both directions, you’d see a steady increase, a climax and then a decrease. The story of every athlete’s career.
  • GregIsLegend, on 08/13/2008, -5/+3No. Implication does not mean causation.
    • BooneFaustus, on 08/13/2008, -0/+1I always thought it was correlation != causation
  • wtfitsRICK, on 08/13/2008, -2/+19It's so terrible that he's on the cover.
    It's like they tried to break the curse by putting a guy who retired on the cover. And now he's coming back.

    I'm guessing he'll just die.
    • volacide, on 08/13/2008, -0/+7Couldn't help but laugh. Eloquent.
  • boozinf, on 08/13/2008, -0/+11Is it too late to get McCain on the cover instead?
  • CerMakAlot, on 08/13/2008, -4/+5This article has terrible research. As a vikings fan, I know that Dante Culpepper's best season was in 2004 in terms of stats.

    Talking about the 2000 and 2001 season: "Some critics would even say that Culpepper never quite rebounded from that back injury, as he never put up big numbers again."

    His biggest numbers were in 2004, by far...
  • Anubis2051, on 08/13/2008, -1/+7Maybe him deciding to come back and create a PR nightmare, along with possibly ruining his reputation was the curse? I mean what is it with all these guys trying to hang on way longer than they should? Jordan, Clemens, and now Farve. Why can't they just retire to the HoF where they belong? why risk ruining their great image? Mickey Mantle once said: "But god-damn, to think you're a .300 hitter and end up at .237 in your last season, then find yourself looking at a lifetime .298 average - it made me want to cry." I understand they're different sports, but it's the same basic idea. Why come back and risk it? better to retire on top, a game away from the Superbowl, then with a team that would be lucky to finish at .500.
  • Cyber_Akuma, on 08/13/2008, -7/+2While I don't believe in curses, I am just curious why an article basically saying "Is the Madden curse real?" was posted on Digg, a site where I can safely say pretty nobody believes in curses.

    It's like asking a club of skeptics and cynics if they think the Lock Ness Monster or Bigfoot is real.
    • neuromachine, on 08/13/2008, -1/+1Why is everyone who is saying curses are silly being dugg down?
  • jeepgun, on 08/13/2008, -3/+1*insert mandatory roster change joke here
  • warchant, on 08/13/2008, -5/+1vince young was on last year's cover.
    he didn't get hurt.
    case closed.
  • withoutteeth, on 08/13/2008, -6/+1It's almost as if EA chooses players at the very peak of their careers, so they have nowhere to go but down
  • HotDogBun, on 08/13/2008, -2/+14The Madden Curse is that it;s the only ***** NFL game we can buy anymore, rehashing the same garbage mechanics year after goddam year.

    2K Studios knew how to make a football game.

    ESPN NFL 2K5 IS STILL THE SINGLE GREATEST NFL GAME AVAILABLE TO GAMERS, 4 YEARS LATER
    • rsjackson, on 08/13/2008, -0/+6I totally agree the whole 2K series of Football was so much better. Which is exactly the reason EA did what they do best, which is to use their pockets to buy competition.
  • cyclopssmiley, on 08/13/2008, -4/+1This is coming from a guy/gal who has probably never lived their himself/herself.
  • DragonForce4, on 08/13/2008, -2/+2I had a lot of tabs open when I opened this one so the title was shortened to "Anal..."
    I sort of got excited
  • stevebaseball, on 08/13/2008, -1/+1EA should have just put Manning or Brady on the cover. No controversy. No chance of them leaving, retiring or doing bad during the season. No chance of EA making an a** of themselves on this year's cover. The whole special edition idea is so ridiculous... http://digg.com/gaming_news/Jets_Favre_to_Wear_New ...
    • PhillAholic, on 08/15/2008, -0/+1I believe they offer it to both of them every year and they both decline. Last year Vince Young was something like the 14th choice to be on the cover since everyone else, Brady, Manning, LT, e.t.c declined.
  • M724, on 08/13/2008, -0/+8There is a Madden curse, but it's not what you think.

    The curse is having idiots spend their money on the game every ***** year on basically a clone of the previous year's edition and keeping the series going.

    Also see:

    FIFA Curse
    NBA Curse
    Tiger Woods Curse
    • napk, on 08/13/2008, -0/+7He's onto something here...
    • slvrbullet87, on 08/14/2008, -1/+1I buy 1 every 3 years... i bought this one after buying '08 because i upgrade from PS2 to PS3
  • etgoboom, on 08/13/2008, -0/+4I call that I get to submit this article next August
  • Starvsnr, on 08/13/2008, -2/+0The Madden curse is over, Vince Young broke it last year. This will be obvious at the end of Young's career because you will realize that last year wasn't a "down year", its his average performance.
  • daveyWSS, on 08/13/2008, -3/+1yeah. uh huh, ok, cool yep uh huh yeah mhm sure. ok cool
  • dharcha1, on 08/13/2008, -1/+2old article with brett favre added onto it.
    i guess they can just recycle this article every year.
    buried as a poor attempt at new news.
  • RomeLeader, on 08/13/2008, -1/+1An analysis like this is done every year. It helps breathe new life into the curse.
  • Claude1971, on 08/13/2008, -0/+2I hope it's real! I'd love to see Favre get balsted in his first game as a Jet!
  • cavie2002, on 08/13/2008, -1/+1omg right now the diggs are 666
  • Fleagleman, on 08/13/2008, -1/+1Always gives me a chuckle. Only thing this story proves about the alleged 'curse' is that professional football players put their bodies through hell and they breakdown and/or get injured all the time.
  • harreola, on 08/13/2008, -2/+1He didn't analyze this but...anyone else notice that all the cursed players are Black? Except for Farvre...just sayin'
  • ELCad, on 08/14/2008, -2/+1Ray Lewis beat the curse. And he got his own movie that year:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZDzOGFXts
  • Rido777, on 08/14/2008, -0/+1Awesome look at how they do the player ratings for Madden '09

    Madden Ratings 101
    http://www.maxim.com/How-Are-Madden-NFL-09s-Rating ...
  • bippy101, on 08/14/2008, -1/+0Good post, looks familiar though:
    http://kotaku.com/347001/still-feasting-on-the-bon ...
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