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Will Shaun Alexander break The Madden Curse? (1 Viewer)

Madskills

Footballguy
I just wanted to give Shaun Alexander owners something to think about. If you do, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.

The following is a list of the players who have graced the covers of Madden NFL over the years, and the circumstances involving them that have contributed to the development of the "Madden Curse" superstition. To clarify some nomenclature, I'll point out that NFL seasons (including playoffs) span calendar years (from Aug./Sep. to the following Jan./Feb.), and the title of each version of Madden NFL includes the year following its release. Therefore, the term "2001 season" (or simply "2001") would refer to the NFL season spanning 2001-2002, and Madden NFL 2002 would refer to the version of Madden NFL released just prior to the start of the 2001-2002 NFL season.

Note: For the first eleven years the game's packaging featured the smiling visage of John Madden.

* 2000: The 2000 edition of Madden NFL was a gentle easing-in to the curse. This was the last edition of the game to feature a photograph of John Madden on the front of the box (as all previous editions had done), but it also included a background picture of the Detroit Lions' star running back (and future NFL Hall of Famer) Barry Sanders. As events turned out, Sanders didn't play a single down during the 1999-2000 season (or ever again), shocking the Lions by abruptly announcing his retirement and ending his ten-year career just before the start of training camp that summer.

Since Barry Sanders quit well before the start of the 1999 regular season, EA Sports had enough time to substitute a different graphic on the packaging of later shipments of Madden NFL 2000. The newer covers replaced the Madden/Sanders combination with a picture of Green Bay Packers running back Dorsey Levens, who spearheaded a Packers team that had just played in three straight NFC Championship Games and back-to-back Super Bowls. Although Levens performed reasonably well in 1999, he was bothered by a bad knee that he had re-injured the previous year, and Green Bay finished out of the playoff picture with a so-so 8-8 record. Levens was used only in a reserve role after that, and the Packers released him at the end of the 2001 season.

* 2001: The 2001 cover of Madden NFL featured Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George, who the previous year had led his team to the Super Bowl (where they came up just short against the St. Louis Rams). Although George enjoyed his best season ever (in terms of yards gained rushing and touchdowns scored) in 2000, he bobbled a pass (that was subsequently intercepted and returned for a touchdown) in the Titans' season-ending Divisional Playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and the following season, hampered by injuries, he saw his rushing average sink to an all-time low.

* 2002: The 2002 cover of Madden NFL featured Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who the previous year had made an impressive NFL debut in taking his team to the NFC Championship Game (which they lost to the New York Giants). In 2001, however, the Vikings struggled to a disappointing 4-7 record before Culpepper suffered a knee injury and missed the last five games of the year (while Minnesota finished the season a dismal 5-11).

* 2003: The 2003 cover of Madden NFL featured St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, whose rushing and receiving prowess had led his team to the Super Bowl twice in the previous three years. But Faulk was plagued by an injured ankle during the 2002 season, his yards gained rushing total dropped under the 1,000 mark (after four straight seasons of 1300+ yards), and the Rams missed the playoffs with a disappointing 7-9 record.

* 2004: The 2004 cover of Madden NFL featured Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who in 2002 (his first season as a starter) took a team with a dismal 16-32 record over the previous three years and led them to a respectable 9-6-1 finish and a spot in the NFL playoffs as a Wild Card entry. In 2003, though, Vick suffered a fractured right fibula in a pre-season game one day after Madden NFL 2004 hit store shelves; he played in only five games that year as the Falcons sank to a lowly 5-11 record.

* 2005: The 2005 cover of Madden NFL featured Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who had recorded a career-high six interceptions in 2003 as his team reached the post-season for the third time in four years. But in 2004, Lewis failed (for the only time in his NFL career) to record even a single interception and sat out the final game of the season with an injury as the Ravens just missed qualifying for the playoffs at 9-7, and in 2005 he suffered a torn right hamstring in Baltimore's sixth game and missed the rest of the season as the Ravens dropped to 6-10.

* 2006: The 2006 cover of Madden NFL featured Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, under whom the Eagles had amassed a superb 59-21 regular season record and made five straight playoff appearances in the previous five years, the last of which culminated in an NFC Championship and a Super Bowl match-up against the New England Patriots (which Philadelphia lost by three points). After he was selected for the 2006 Madden NFL cover, McNabb flouted the curse by saying that the injuries associated with it "might be a trend, but I don't believe in the curse at all." True to form, McNabb suffered a sports hernia in the first game of the 2005 season. He played on for another eight games despite the painful injury, but after being re-injured in a contest against the Dallas Cowboys, he finally opted for surgery and missed the final seven games of the season as the Eagles finished last in the NFC East.

* 2007: The 2007 cover of Madden NFL features the Seattle Seahawks' star running back Shaun Alexander, whose 5.1 yards per carry rushing average in 2005 spurred the Seahawks to their best season ever and their first Super Bowl appearance. What the 2006 season might hold for him, only time will tell.

 
I'm glad I'm not one of those people with the #3 pick that's supposed to pick Alexander. I think that he'll have a massive decline in production this year in both yardage and TDs.

I dislike Alexander this year for plenty of reasons beyond being on the cover of Madden, but the fact that he's on there certainly isn't something I take lightly. He was on NFL Network one time, and Rich Eisen asked him what he thought of the Madden curse and whether it'd have an effect on him. Alexander brushed it off obviously, but that was the first time that I can recall a player acknowledging the Curse before his supposed cursed season, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

 
I'm glad I'm not one of those people with the #3 pick that's supposed to pick Alexander. I think that he'll have a massive decline in production this year in both yardage and TDs. I dislike Alexander this year for plenty of reasons beyond being on the cover of Madden, but the fact that he's on there certainly isn't something I take lightly. He was on NFL Network one time, and Rich Eisen asked him what he thought of the Madden curse and whether it'd have an effect on him. Alexander brushed it off obviously, but that was the first time that I can recall a player acknowledging the Curse before his supposed cursed season, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.
:lmao:
 
Wow, madskills... nobody on this board has ever considered that before. Thanks for coming here and enlightening us.

Have you considered the Super Bowl runner-up curse as well?

 
he is my #1 .

ever since i charted the nfl schedule he really seperated from lj and lt in my book . a much easier schedule in a division with low ranked defense . and a great playoff (week 13,14 and 15) schedule facing favorable teams/defense .

 
For those that believe in the curse mumbo jumbo, do you also factor in quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's featured role in this year's TV commercials for Campbell's Chunky Soup as affecting Alexander as well?

 
Wow, madskills... nobody on this board has ever considered that before. Thanks for coming here and enlightening us.

Have you considered the Super Bowl runner-up curse as well?
Well if your the superstisious type the addition of that curse cannot be good. Here a the stats.

The Super Bowl runner-up curse:

Season: 2001

Team: New York Giants

Record: 7-9

Notes: Disappointing season was a footnote to a team trying to cope with aftermath of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Giants remained in playoff chase before losing five of final seven games, thanks in large part to defensive woes.

Season: 2002

Team: St. Louis Rams

Record: 7-9

Notes: "Greatest Show on Turf" wasn't much of a show as injuries cost starters 45 games. In the wake of MVP season, Kurt Warner threw three touchdowns and 11 interceptions in seven games. Marc Bulger revived team after 0-5 start, but he, too, was lost to injury.

Season: 2003

Team: Oakland Raiders

Record: 4-12

Notes: After Super Bowl run in his rookie year, coach Bill Callahan was out of a job a season later. Reigning MVP Rich Gannon was lost to a shoulder injury in October. A veteran team in 2002, age caught up with Oakland in 2003.

Season: 2004

Team: Carolina Panthers

Record: 7-9

Notes: Steve Smith broke his leg in Week 1, starting a trend for injury-ravaged club. After a 1-7 start, inspired play from Jake Delhomme, Muhsin Muhammad and Nick Goings kept Carolina in the playoff hunt until final weekend.

Season: 2005

Team: Philadelphia Eagles

Record: 6-10

Notes: Team started 4-2, but banished disgruntled Terrell Owens after Week 8. Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook went down with injuries in subsequent weeks while a battered defense surrendered 24.2 points a game.

 
For those that believe in the curse mumbo jumbo, do you also factor in quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's featured role in this year's TV commercials for Campbell's Chunky Soup as affecting Alexander as well?
Well with all of these curses stacking up, the up coming season for Seattle is starting to look very bleak.Here is a website that does a fun job of covering the Campbell's Soup curse...

http://www.chunkysoupcurse.com/

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Madskills said:
Despyzer said:
Wow, madskills... nobody on this board has ever considered that before. Thanks for coming here and enlightening us.Have you considered the Super Bowl runner-up curse as well?
Well if your the superstisious type the addition of that curse cannot be good. Here a the stats.
I was being sarcastic. I couldn't possibly estimate the number of threads we have seen on this topic each week since the cover was announced several months ago.
 
Picked #3 on Tuesday.

Hoped for LT to slip.

Did not.

Took SA.

I should not be this nervous about the #3 overall pick.

BUT ...

Had McNabb

Had Lewis

Managed to skip Vick

Had Faulk

Had C-Pep

Had Eddie the first year he turned to garbage

All were either 1st rounders, or else went for 1st round $$ ... ugh :wall:

 
Madskills said:
Despyzer said:
Wow, madskills... nobody on this board has ever considered that before. Thanks for coming here and enlightening us.Have you considered the Super Bowl runner-up curse as well?
Well if your the superstisious type the addition of that curse cannot be good. Here a the stats.
I was being sarcastic. I couldn't possibly estimate the number of threads we have seen on this topic each week since the cover was announced several months ago.
I got it. I thought I'd be a little sarcastic back and give you what you asked for. Wow and does it bother you that much that a topic might get disscused more than once here? :cry: I just thought it may be a fun read for some people (not you).
 
does it bother you that much that a topic might get disscused more than once here? :cry: I just thought it may be a fun read for some people (not you).
If it was just a couple of times, no big deal. This has been hammered to death. It's really not that tough to operate the Search command and see if a topic (that isn't even current) has been discussed before. Just add to that thread instead of starting the exact same garbage all over again. :yawn: Not only that, as I have said before in threads like these, let's leave all that curse mumbo-jumbo to a pansy sport like baseball.
 
does it bother you that much that a topic might get disscused more than once here? :cry: I just thought it may be a fun read for some people (not you).
If it was just a couple of times, no big deal. This has been hammered to death. It's really not that tough to operate the Search command and see if a topic (that isn't even current) has been discussed before. Just add to that thread instead of starting the exact same garbage all over again. :yawn: Not only that, as I have said before in threads like these, let's leave all that curse mumbo-jumbo to a pansy sport like baseball.
Despyzer - Since this post is obviously upsetting you, please feel free to ignore it. :cry:
 

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