GIFT AND THE CURSE
EA Sports has decided that this season will make or break the vaunted “Madden curse.”
For those who aren’t keeping count, the release of Madden 2008 is just 123 days away. Yesterday, EA announced that Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, winner of last season’s Rookie of the Year award, would grace the cover of the game on August 14 when it hits shelves. Which, if you’re a Madden fanatic, means three things: One, VY had one hell of a year last season. Two, he’s not going to have much of a season next year. And, three, for conspiracy theorists, there still has not been a white NFL player on the cover of Madden.
If you know anything about the Madden series and the “Madden curse,” you know that everyone who appears on the cover of the game has something go wrong the next season, especially quarterbacks. Dante Culpepper (Madden ’02) hurt his knee. Michael Vick (’04) broke his leg. And Donovan McNabb (’06) went down with a sports hernia.
So, what’s going to happen to Young? My prediction is…nothing. VY’s saying he’s escaped the other heralded sports curse — appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated — without injury or loss. Fine, but he hasn’t been on that cover, say, the week before a playoff game. So we really can't go by that. I say he’s going to beat this because he (disrespectful gasp) hasn’t hit his peak already like so many of the other Madden cover boys had. Shaun Alexander was great during the ’06 season, but with his age creeping upwards, you almost knew he was doomed before he hopped on the Madden 2007 cover.
I’m also gonna go out on a limb here and say that LaDainian Tomlinson and probably even Larry Johnson, the top running backs in the league last season, hit ignore on their cell phones when they saw EA pop up this offseason. Why chance it? They're about to see some history get made.
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Comments
1.
Sean says:
Word to LDT and LJ not messing with EA. Can't blame em either. VY, Week 6, lights out. Sorry, B.
04/18/2007 at 4:59 PM