Madden Curse Strikes Again

Madden Curse 1 – Troy Palumalu 0

In tonight’s Steelers-Titans games, Madden Cover boy Troy Palumalu went down with a sprain MCL. Palumalu is expected to miss 3-6 weeks, which will be a huge loss to the Super Bowl champion Steelers.

Troy Palumalu is the latest player to suffer from the Madden curse. Players who have graced the cover of EA Sports popular video game generally suffer some form of injury soon after the game is released. This can’t be good news for those of you who have drafted Larry Fitzgerald in their fantasy football draft. Fitzgerald shares the Madden cover with Palumalu this year.

Players and naturally EA executives will deny the curse exists however, a string of injuries and subpar seasons begs to differ.

Madden 1999 – Garrison Hearst was the first victim. Hearst had a solid regular season and then in the first game of the playoffs, Hearst broke his ankle forcing him to miss the playoffs and the next two seasons.

Madden 2000 – Dorsey Levens rushed for 1034 yards in 99 but in 2000, his production dropped to 224 yards.

Madden 2001 – Eddie George averaged 1375 yards a season to earn his place on the cover. After appearing on the cover his averages dropped to 892 in his remaining years.

Madden 2002 – Daunte Culpepper struggled with a 4-7 start and then fell victim to a knee injury

Madden 2003 – Marshall Faulk was a 1000-yard rusher in seven of his first 9 seasons but after his cover appearance, he never hit that mark again.

Madden 2004 – Only days after the game is released Vick breaks his leg and only plays five games the entire season.

Madden 2005 – Ray Lewis almost broke the curse but Lewis broke his wrist in the second to last game of the season.

Madden 2006 – Donovan McNabb made it to the Super Bowl the year previous and then suffered a sports hernia and feuded with Terrell Owens the next season.

Madden 2007 – Shaun Alexander never missed a game his entire career until (I think you can see a pattern here) he broke a bone in his foot and missed several games.

Madden 2008 – Vince Young escaped serious injury after winning the Rookie of the Year but as he languishes at the end of the Titans bench, he may wonder what happened. I think we have an idea.

Madden 2009 – Brett Favre the curse hit him so bad he retired…for a little bit.

And that brings us to this year, if I’m Larry Fitzgerald; I’m hiring bodyguards and carrying a lucky rabbits foot.