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Megatron Wins Madden Cover (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Superdbs
- Start date
sspunisher
Footballguy
A brand new fat contract AND the Madden Curse? Hmmm I don't know...
PlasmaDogPlasma
Footballguy
Plus he broke a mirror when he tripped over a black cat while walking under a ladder and screaming "I'm invincible!"
eakfootball
Footballguy
There's no such thing as the madden curse. Half the "cursed" guys have had fine seasons, and some little thing is known as the curse. With the exception of the super bowl winning QB, you can find a reason every single player in the league's season was cursed.
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
Im still drafting/buying, you guys sound like a bunch of women.
Next thing you'll be setting out cookies for Santa and telling us stories about hoof stomps on your rooftop.
Next thing you'll be setting out cookies for Santa and telling us stories about hoof stomps on your rooftop.
Dave Stauff
Footballguy
Use it as a buying opportunity . . . 
Buy low?
Shutout
Footballguy
Yeah...as an owner, I am now looking to get another Wr this year and am planning for the inevitable high ankle sprain/hammy/lingering back issue that will inevitably cost me about 6 effective starts this year.
Crazysight
Footballguy
That's an easy one. Even if he hadn't won it I could tell you that. No discredit to his tremendous ability but:1. Last year was a contract year for Megatron. He responded by having easily the best season of his career. He was rewarded with a fat juicy 125 million dollar contract this offseason. 2. Last year was the first in 3 that Stafford remained healthy for the entire year.3. Calvin's numbers last year were not just the best of his career, but were also simply astronomical. I wouldn't imagine he'd be able to top those numbers, and would be hard pressed to duplicate them.4. My opinion here, but I truly think Stafford is overrated and last year may end up even being the peak of his career. He's looked really well up until this point when he's played, but there's just things I've seen about him that I simply don't like as far as his character/personality goes. Case in point when he threw the INT against Green Bay during the thanksgiving day loss last year, he runs down the field and lays a total cheap shot on a defenseless player after the whistle has blown. Another time I saw him in an interview and he made some comment that just sounded extremely juvenile, I don't remember what it was about he but stated that something was "freaking awesome." Seriously, who the hell says "freaking." That's a word that only a child or a moron uses. That's something that probably seems very petty to most and that most wouldn't read anything into or consider to be indicative of anything, but I do think the guy is somewhat of a punk and not as awesome as he probably thinks he is at this point in his career. Up until this point everything has been relatively smooth sailing for him when he's been healthy and he's yet to really experience a down year. He strikes me as the type who has an inflated ego and who won't be able to handle it very well when such things don't go his way and he's brought down to earth. All conjecture and my opinion, of course, but see if it doesn't inevitably come to pass at some point.Provided he stays healthy I'd expect Calvin's numbers to at least fall off some this season. "Curse" notwithstanding, I wouldn't be surprised to see him post numbers similar to those in 2008. He would still be one of the top receivers in the league if he were to do that, but those numbers would also be a large drop-off from the gaudy stats that he posted last year.
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Grahamburn
Footballguy
Calvin is immune to this nonsense.
Cato
Footballguy
Can't agree more. Simple case of perception. It's a violent contact sport, odds of the cover player or any player missing time is high given their chosen profession. If one looks simply at the cover athletes, it seems like every one has gone under the curse. If you were to examine the entire population I think we would see it everywhere. Was Plaxico Buress on the cover, Ryan Williams, Mikel LeShoure, Ben Tate, Montario Hardesty, Randy Moss? Tom Brady? Jamaal Charles, Kenny Britt? No, it's a phenomenon associated to the chosen profession of the people who go onto the Madden cover. Ergo, they are cursed by their chosen profession, not the random selection of being on a video game cover. Ever notice how you buy a red truck, and suddenly there are red trucks everywhere, I propose they were always there, one just didn't have a vested interest in noticing them until you also had one. Do mosquitos really like to buzz into your ear, or flies land on a wall? Is it possible they are equally probable fly and mosquito to be on the wall or ear, but because you can perceive the mosquito so much easier by your ear, your understanding of it, is slanted by your ability to perceive it. Likewise with the fly on the wall, that is when we are able to perceive it. So no, the Madden curse is simply a matter of perception and doesn't exist, the true curse is being in a profession which while rewarding and exciting can lead to injury. That said, I'd be curious to see a scientific study of Madden cover athletes vs the general NFL population or NFL players of a same position and similar usage rate. Players who make the cover tend to be stars therefore their usage rates are high therefore their probability of injury is likely equivalent to similar players of similar positions with similar usage, irrespective of their selection for a Madden cover. Heck I can make up a fake video game, call it Cato 2012, select a random athlete, and see if the curse applies there as well. In my opinion, it's just as random, but will not be perceived as such. Thanks. /End Rant
SmoovySmoov
The Way of the Samurai
Well, #### the bed! 
gigantor
Footballguy
noticed you left off Polamalu who shared the cover with Fitz. Poor Troy had terrible injuries that year.Brees & Fitz are the only ones who have done well. (though Brees had a lot of picks that year)The curse is real people!
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
footballnerd
Footballguy
some players can overcome the curse, Megatron is one of them
Considering they choose players after a "pinnacle" year, most regress just due to normalcy. They don't pick "trending" players for the cover, they pick those who went above and beyond. They are selling to a "soft in the head" crowd...they want to see that guy they heard so much about the previous year, not the guy who is primed to rip it up. You won't see Shady McCoy on the cover or even under consideration THIS year, but if he hits 1400/800 and 12 TDs, his face will be plastered on it the next year, even if those numbers are almost impossible to attain going forward. It reminds me when FBG put Tiki Barber on their cover in the first year of the magazine...to guys like us, it made sense (though there were those worried it did not reflect on their knowledge of who was great at the time), and if you blindly picked the guy on the cover, you likely made the playoffs. It is different audiences...when Hillis made the cover in 2011, did you honestly think he would hit the same numbers after (1) coming out of nowhere, and (2) losing Mangini as his HC? Those were perfect world numbers, which Madden-types thrive on (if not just the company for marketing), yet we all know those numbers won't be duplicated...doesn't make the guy a bad fantasy pick, but risky nonetheless at where you have to get him.
glumpy
breeze
comfortably numb
Footballguy
Eddie George too I think.and Chuck Norris
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
/threadI have Mega in two keeper leagues and couldn't be happier. If anything this will make it easier to acquire him from owners who manage their tam based on such tings as curses.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
it would be awesome if when you play Tebow the morale of your defense goes down because he steals all the media spotlight.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
I think it is cute that they now have a name for attention whoring. It's in the game.
![[icon]](/data/avatars/m/5/5167.jpg?1660313464){kind=avatar}
[icon]
Insoxicated
Back this up. Go.
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
There is no such thing as "curses". Whatsoever. None. *not to be confused with curse words.
[icon]
Insoxicated
RED = Major Injury or DropoffORANGE = Minor Injury or Dropoff explainable by typical variance
GREEN = No impact
Peyton Hillis, Madden 12
The promising Cleveland Browns running back said before winning the honor that he didn’t believe in the Madden Curse, then went on to rush for a mere 587 yards in an injury-riddled and controversy-plagued season. He’s since changed his tune.
Drew Brees, Madden 11
Brees passed for more than 4,600 yards the season after appearing on the Madden cover, although he also threw 22 interceptions and got sacked 25 times. However, if you believe the curse has a long reach, look no further than the New Orleans Saints’ recent ‘bounty’ scandal, which resulted in league fines and the suspension ...
Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polomalu, Madden 10
Dealing with a broken thumb (and, in the postseason, a rib injury that left him spitting up blood), Arizona receiver Fitzgerald posted the lowest yardage totals of his career. Polomalu fared worse: the Pittsburgh safety sprained his MCL in the first matchup of the season and missed 11 games.
Brett Favre, Madden 09
A newly minted New York Jet (gamemakers Electronic Arts had to reissue the Madden cover after the longtime Green Bay Packers QB changed teams), Favre led the team to an 8-3 record before a torn tendon in his arm benched him for the season. That year also saw a scandal that would mar Favre's last years as a pro, in which he ...
Vince Young, Madden 08
Young had a fine year following his Madden appearance, leading the Tennessee Titans to a 10-6 season and a Wild Card playoff birth. But he injured his knee in the first week of the following season — right after the Tennessee Titans signed the quarterback to a five-year, $58 million contract — and would play only 3 games ...
Shaun Alexander, Madden 07
Shaun Alexander carried the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl, won the league’s MVP award, signed a $62 million deal that at the time made him the highest-paid running back in history and then promptly broke his foot in the third week of his post-Madden season. After returning he rarely captured that same spark from his 2005 ...
Donavan McNabb, Madden 06
The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback had a rocky start to his first post-Madden season, clashing publicly with his star wide receiver, Terrell Owens. And things went downhill from there. An aggravated groin injury put him on the sidelines in November, and the Eagles limped to a 6-10 record.
Ray Lewis, Madden 05
The intimidating Baltimore Ravens linebacker broke his wrist the year after he became the first defender to appear on the cover, but only missed one game. And while he did sit out most of the next season after a hamstring injury, he appeared in six consecutive pro bowls upon his return.
Michael Vick, Madden 04
Vick, then the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, famously broke his leg during a preseason game the day after Madden 2004 was released, missing 11 games. There was also the small matter of his 2007 dog-fighting conviction, although critics would suggest he got in that trouble all by himself.
Marshall Faulk: Madden 2003
Madden 2003 was the high-water mark for the St. Louis Rams running back; he appeared on the cover after four straight seasons of rushing for 1,300 or more yards. He would never break 1,000 yards again.
Daunte Culpepper, Madden 2002
The mobile Minnesota Vikings quarterback struggled in 2001, throwing 13 interceptions and getting the Vikings started on the road to a 5-11 record, until his season was mercifully cut short by knee surgery after 11 games.
Barry Sanders, Madden 2000
He only appeared in the background behind a portrait of John Madden, but Sanders became the curse’s most inexplicable victim. Just before the beginning of training camp the following season, the legendary running back abruptly retired from football, just short of setting the all-time rushing record.
Eddie George, Madden 2001
The Tennessee Titans running back actually had a great season in 2000, the year he became the first athlete to feature solo on the Madden cover (previous years had featured John Madden prominently). But a key fumble in the playoffs would cost the top-seeded Titans their shot at the Super Bowl.
Dorsey Levens, Madden 2000
Levens, a Green Bay running back, appeared on a different version of the Madden 2000 cover, but still couldn't escape the curse. While he would rush for more than 1,000 yards in his first post-Madden campaign, he would succumb to injury the following year, playing just 5 games. The Packers cut Levens from the team in 2001.
Garrison Hearst, Madden 99
Although Hearst only appeared on one version of the cover, the payback was brutal. At the start of the NFC Championship Game against the Atlanta Falcons, the San Francisco 49ers running back broke his left ankle after his foot caught in the astroturf of the Georgia Dome. Thanks to ensuing complications, the injury would keep ...
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Bigboy10182000
Footballguy
The colors make me want to punch you 
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Insoxicated
Might want to see a shrink about that.The colors make me want to punch you
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
ICON... Curses are make-believe.
bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
poor calvin
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
Bad seasons and injuries in the NFL are super common.
It has nothing to do with any voodoo, magic, curse, niburu, witch doctor, diety-willing, circumstances.
It has nothing to do with any voodoo, magic, curse, niburu, witch doctor, diety-willing, circumstances.
It is nothing more than the simple rule that "madden buys high"...they take the best for their cover after they had a great year and almost inevitably, they have a "poorer" following season. Does anyone really think Cam or Calvin will better, let alone duplicate their numbers from last year...I don't, and it does not take the cover of a video game for me to believe it.
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
Exactly. Firstly you would have to believe Stafford will play all 16 games.Logic seems to be escaping Madden Curse psychos... like twisting Brees' 4600/33td into a "dropoff".
Cato
Footballguy
So unless the Madden cover athlete goes completely un-injured and wins the Super Bowl, they've been cursed?
Odds are against that happening, just by parity and violent nature of the sport. IMO, /the end.
I think a randomly selected portion of NFL athletes would seems just as cursed.
Randy Moss, was not on a Madden cover,horrible year.
Hillis, on the Madden cover, horrible year.
The common factor is they are football players, and life, age, injury happens to anybody. For a true picture one would need to study the entire NFL population, not just the cover athletes. This is pretty close to horoscopes in that you can believe the curse exists via interpretation. (one can apply a loose interpretation to anything, provided they have an anchored view point, which acts as their lens through which they see things.)
If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you believe in the curse you'll see it. The real take-away is how violent, short lived, but glorious some NFL careers are, which is a general fact of life in the NFL, not specific to Madden cover athletes. (RBs especially.)
Odds are against that happening, just by parity and violent nature of the sport. IMO, /the end.
I think a randomly selected portion of NFL athletes would seems just as cursed.
Randy Moss, was not on a Madden cover,horrible year.
Hillis, on the Madden cover, horrible year.
The common factor is they are football players, and life, age, injury happens to anybody. For a true picture one would need to study the entire NFL population, not just the cover athletes. This is pretty close to horoscopes in that you can believe the curse exists via interpretation. (one can apply a loose interpretation to anything, provided they have an anchored view point, which acts as their lens through which they see things.)
If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you believe in the curse you'll see it. The real take-away is how violent, short lived, but glorious some NFL careers are, which is a general fact of life in the NFL, not specific to Madden cover athletes. (RBs especially.)
Frank Black
Footballguy
This comment sums up how silly it is to believe in the "curse."
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
On pace for ZERO touchdowns.
BigSteelThrill
Footballguy
He didn't score a TD in over 30% of his games last year.
On pace for ZERO touchdowns.
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
That's one way to look at it.He didn't score a TD in over 30% of his games last year.
On pace for ZERO touchdowns.
