Reversing the Curse of Madden

What do NFL icons Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb and Shaun Alexander all have in common?

If you read the headline of this blog post, you probably concluded that Hall of Fame commentator John Madden has something to do with it in some way, shape or form. If you did, you're right on target like Montana to Rice.

This all has to do with a phenomenon that's become known as The Madden Curse. It's this theory that says that whoever graces the cover of EA Sports' popular Madden football video game has, shall we say, a bad experience awaiting them in the ensuing season. Culpepper (2001, injured knee), Faulk (2002, injured ankle), Vick (2003, broken leg), Lewis (2004, broken wrist), McNabb (2005, sports hernia) and Alexander (2006, fractured foot) all went down with serious injuries after appearing as Madden cover boys.

What to make of it? Many say it's a curse. Others say it's coincidence.

Well, the next chapter of this story has begun, as Tennessee Titans QB Vince Young was officially tabbed as Madden '08's cover subject on Tuesday night. See what Vince had to say about the Curse during his interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

If being on the cover of Madden is a curse, Vince has got one thing going for him: he's already broken the notorious Sports Illustrated cover jinx - twice. V.Y. was on SI's front page the week before he led the University of Texas to a 70-3 win over Colorado in the Big 12 Championship Game (Dec. 3, 2005) and on the SI cover the week before he helped lead Tennessee to a 24-17 win over Jacksonville (Dec. 17, 2006).