Whether you believe in curses or not, you have to admit it is strangely coincidental how so many athletes who have appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ “Madden” video game have gotten injured over the years. After an off year in 2011, Peyton Hillis had no choice but to become a believer. Drew Brees may not have missed any actual time, but there were rumors that he played through a couple of significant knee injuries the year he was on the cover of the game.
Unsurprisingly, John Madden himself does not believe in the curse. And if it does exist, he says he is confident Calvin Johnson can put an end to it this season.
“I was on the cover for several years, and I never once even pulled a hamstring,” Madden said while laughing according to the Detroit Free Press. “It’s a violent sport. Injuries are going to happen.
“If there was such a thing (as a curse), you couldn’t ask for a better man to prove that wrong than who we’ve got this year. He might be as close to indestructible as we’ve ever had on the cover. Maybe I shouldn’t say that…that might…I’m not going to talk about that any more.”
Fortunately for Madden, Nate Burleson already said something similar about Megatron a few months back. If you believe in curses and you’re a Johnson fan, you probably aren’t feeling great about him being on the cover of the video game and Burleson and Madden both challenging the curse gods. If Megatron can put together a healthy season given all the things people have said about his presence on the cover, I think it’s safe to say the curse doesn’t exist.
