this is wisdom I don’t want
waiting for the wishbone
drama of a leafless autumn
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
Brett Favre and the Madden Curse
Back in 1999, Electronic Arts (EA) decided to stop putting John Madden on the front cover of its Madden NFL video game. Instead, EA started featuring football players instead. What followed out of that is an increasingly odd trend – that whatever athlete makes the cover tends to have either a down season or their worst season period. Otherwise known as the Madden Curse.
Curses!
Take for example the 1999 cover – Eddie George. In 1998 George had a spectacular season and helped his team to the Super Bowl. Then he appeared on the Madden cover. His next season was filled with injuries and he never fully recovered, going into a slow decline. The year Michael Vick appeared on the cover – he broke his leg and didn’t play the whole season. The year Shaun Alexander appeared on the cover, he injured his foot, missed a bunch of games and looked terrible in the rest. The year Ray Lewis appeared on the cover, he fought injuries the whole season and ended up with his worst statistical year, plus his team missed the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl the year before.
Unretirement is a verb
So this year, perhaps EA tried to play it safe. They put a retired player on their cover. He can’t get injured right? Well, what he can do is not stay retired – as the current cover jockey just did.
For Madden 2009, EA decided to feature Brett Favre – and it’s going to be a mistake that haunts them all year. With Favre a) announcing his un-retirement and b) creating a Minnesota Vikings-sized boatload of drama and now c) getting traded to the New York Jets – the curse has clearly struck again.
So now, Madden 2009 will feature Favre in a Packers uniform – a team he won’t be playing with this year and a team he clearly left on bad terms, damaging his legacy in the NFL.
The one thing I have to wonder is – since EA won’t be updating their cover – will they be updating the roster so that the Jets have Favre?
Curses!
Take for example the 1999 cover – Eddie George. In 1998 George had a spectacular season and helped his team to the Super Bowl. Then he appeared on the Madden cover. His next season was filled with injuries and he never fully recovered, going into a slow decline. The year Michael Vick appeared on the cover – he broke his leg and didn’t play the whole season. The year Shaun Alexander appeared on the cover, he injured his foot, missed a bunch of games and looked terrible in the rest. The year Ray Lewis appeared on the cover, he fought injuries the whole season and ended up with his worst statistical year, plus his team missed the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl the year before.
Unretirement is a verb
So this year, perhaps EA tried to play it safe. They put a retired player on their cover. He can’t get injured right? Well, what he can do is not stay retired – as the current cover jockey just did.
For Madden 2009, EA decided to feature Brett Favre – and it’s going to be a mistake that haunts them all year. With Favre a) announcing his un-retirement and b) creating a Minnesota Vikings-sized boatload of drama and now c) getting traded to the New York Jets – the curse has clearly struck again.
So now, Madden 2009 will feature Favre in a Packers uniform – a team he won’t be playing with this year and a team he clearly left on bad terms, damaging his legacy in the NFL.
The one thing I have to wonder is – since EA won’t be updating their cover – will they be updating the roster so that the Jets have Favre?
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