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When was the last time you heard about the urban legend of Alligators living inside the sewage tunnels of the Big Apple? Ever heard about Coca Cola being used as an effective spermicide? Wondered if our world of gaming had a few of these urban legends? Guess what? I happened to stumble onto one such legend recently.
John Madden’s NFL happens to be one of the biggest money churner for EA Sports, so much so that EA gobbled up all the right for use of NFL’s stadiums, teams and the player’s likeliness. Typical EA, you will say. So where does the urban legend feature here? Here lies the “Madden Cover Curse”, according to which any player who is featured on the cover box of the game will be dogged with a bad season or even worse, injuries that might keep him out of the game!
Now, now, don’t go scoffing on this little piece of legend because this happens to carry with a tinge of credibility as well. The best examples of the victims of this curse will be Garrison Hearst, Eddie George, Barry Sanders, Dorsey Levens, Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis and Donovan MacNabb. All these players have been featured at some time or the other on the cover of the game and subsequently found their form in tatters with nose-diving performances in their games. Few of these unlucky souls were even plagued with injuries that kept them out of the game for a very long time. Fumbles that would cost them the game would become all too common. All this after they have had a splendid run in the previous season and thus having earned a place on the cover of “Madden’s NFL”.
Who would have thought that appearing on a games jewel box will mean that you would end up warming the benches, or worse still, on some cold hospital bed? Now that the Vince Young has become the latest sportsperson to be featured on the cover, maybe we can check out for ourselves if this story has any grain of truth in it. In the meantime, I will pray for the poor guy that he doesn’t has to hop off the field in case the ball lands at the wrong place.
P.S. : Can I have Jack Thomspon on the cover please?