Here's my list of Madden Curse hopefuls:
Al Davis: The Raiders are horrible and Al Davis has been sucking from the unholy teat of inexplicable undeath for far too long. If the Madden Curse can keep the Raiders horrible or somehow cause Al Davis' death... YES.Peyton Manning: This beloved commercial star and superior quarterback graced the cover of every OTHER football video game except Madden, and all he's had is success (well, in the regular season). I'm sure plenty of people would love to see him carted off in a gurney or throwing 30 INTs in a season. I don't really care either way, but it seems like it needs to happen.
Terrell Owens: He's thrown so many teammates, teams and coaches under the bus over the years. Physical injury is too predictable, and Kobe proved that the rape allegation doesn't have the same power it used to. How about a cocaine habit coming to light? He's in Dallas; after all, Michael Irvin experienced problems with coke and he's still not in the Hall of Fame. It seems fitting, so coke it is. Madden Curse, please make this happen.
The East Coast Bias: If we can shove all the New York and Boston athletes onto one cover, not so that each of them will be individually cursed but so that collectively they will receive less attention--even just for one year--the rest of the nation would be grateful. Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Tiki Barber, Eli Manning--these are all great athletes, but I'm tired of hearing about them and their teams.Golf: Since I've already deviated (briefly?) from people who might actually make the Madden cover, let's go ahead and throw golf in there. It's boring, it excludes those who can't afford it, and it only features one true athlete: Tiger Woods. I do love that the one true athlete dominates all the pudgy players, but that does that mean we should keep golf? It's like keeping the XFL just because we love the mysterious player name "He Hate Me." Slap golf on the Madden cover, insert Tiger into a different sport, and let's be done with the whole thing.
Tom Cruise: This guy is nuts, we all know he's nuts, yet people still follow his every move and pay way too much to see his movies. Put Cruise on the Madden cover so we can expose the ultimate dirty secret that will lead to his imprisonment, banishment or murder spree (although let's hope he doesn't actually murder anybody so much as just try really hard and make a fool of himself).
Steve Smith: This move I actually favor for the opposite reason: Smith is the kind of guy that gets fired up in the face of adversity. Give him a Madden cover and he will fight the curse with vigor. The chip on his shoulder will carry him and the Panthers to an undefeated season and a Super Bowl victory. I'm not a Panthers fan by any means, but I would love to see Steve Smith as that kind of force, and I would really love someone besides the Dolphins having an undefeated season.
Players who have seemingly already been hit by the Madden Curse:
Randy Moss: Exiled to Raiders hell. Does he deserve it? Probably. Still, it's a drag to be hit by the Madden Curse without the actual thrill of being on the cover of the game.
Houston Texans: 'nuff said.
Priest Holmes: If there was any player who deserved to make the Madden cover, it's Priest Holmes. Now he may never return at all, much less to his former NFL glory.
Jamal Lewis: The Anti-Holmes in many respects, this guy got what he deserved. First, he racked up a 2,000+ yard season, and everyone thought that he was IT. Did everyone ignore the fact he racked up 600+ yards in two games against an atrocious Cleveland Browns team? His 2,000 yard season tarnished Terrell Davis's similar record AND reaffirmed what the pundits like to repeat from time to time: O.J. Simpson, the first 2,000 yard rusher, did it in just 14 games. Anytime you can contribute to making O.J. Simpson look better, you need to contemplate your actions and reconsider your direction in life. Of course, Jamal Lewis went to prison for his role in a cocaine deal, and hasn't been the same since. [Insert random prison/sexual orientation joke here.]
If you're not familiar with the Madden Curse, read up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden_NFL#The_.22Madden_Curse.22
Post your suggestions!
3 comments:
Osama Bin Laden needs to be added to the list.
Not only is he a tall, skinny odd looking man...He's also supposedly the number one threat to national security in America. Maybe if the guys at EA would take notice of the power of their cover, we could truly end all war.
First, I'd like to offer my reservations about the Madden curse, for a number of reasons. Recently, people seem to be taking liberties with the inital definition of the curse, as I understood it. I thought it applied only to the year that the player was on the cover. If so, the Madden curse has serious flaws, as a number of the players on the Wikipedia list had good seasons the year they were on the cover. If the curse, on the other hand, applies to an athlete's entire career thereafter, that also has some descrepancies. Let's note the following:
These players contradict the argument about the season in which a player graces the cover, he will underperform:
- Dorsey Levens (2000): 1999 stats - 1034 yds. rushing, 9 TDs
- Eddie George (2001): 2000 stats - over 1500 yds. rushing, 16 total TDs
- M. Faulk (2003): 2002 stats - 950+ yds. rushing, 8 TDs
- Ray Lewis (2005): 2004 stas: 147 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pick (slightly below career averages)
M. Vick, D. McNabb, and D. Culpepper did have poor seasons, due to injury or poor play.
Since his Madden cover, however, Culpepper has been a Pro-Bowler, including a 2004 season that saw him throw 39 TDs. (please ignore how horiffic he's been this year).
In reality, the only player who really regressed after his cover was Marshall Faulk. Indeed, as the Wikipedia entry attests, Faulk started this hysteria.
As for Shaun Alexander, I'll grant that he adds to the mystery of it all...however, I'll also note that in future years, when people note how Alexander regressed after his cover, you have to remember that 2005 was an NFL record-setting year for him. Taking that as the baseline for comparison is shortsighted.
All of this said, I vote for putting Bud Selig, Bill Bidwell, and/or the MTV television show "My Sweet 16" on the next Madden cover.
Id like to say the only valid NON madden curse players are Levens(even though gaining 1,000 yards isnt "THAT" impressive) and Eddie George... Lewis Was Injured on the Last game but even bigger was they didnt make the playoffs which was pretty huge for an ex-superbowl Division Beast and Faulk had his first non 1,000 yard season, and was injured. So thats what i wanted to say
MUCHO PROPS HERB... i like the blog, for sure ill need to check out ur blog more!
As for my Candidates Put Brett Favre on their So maybe HE'll FINALLLLY RETIRE.
Or Maybe Make a Unique madden Cover with Like OWENS and MOSS together lol
But my #1 Madden Cover Is Barry Bonds... SO THAT HORRIBLE Man Will FOR SURE never break aarons Record... cuz i dont even want him ahead of aaron with a (*) by his name cuz some people will still just see his name at the top.
Ev
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