by Lucas Brooks

Created on: May 24, 2008

Is the Madden Curse fact, or fiction? We may never know. What can be said, however, is that this whole hubbub is a lot more exaggerated then most people make it out to be. Sure, for the last couple of years players who have appeared on the cover of the recent Madden titles have gotten injured, but it is clearly ludicrous to blame this on some random curse when football is the sport that it is. It is physical, it is dangerous. Deal with it.

Now, we all know football is a physical sport. And we all know that people get hurt all of the time (just look at the Giants ending roster the year before last). Because of this, it is not plausible to believe that just because a player lands a lead on a cover he will be injured for that reason and that reason alone. Things happen. All it takes is a random mishap to occur such as a player landing the wrong way or being tackled too hard and he is injured.

Another thing that should be pointed out is the extreme pressure that comes with knowing that you are potentially cursed by accepting the cover role. Think about it: If you knew that every player before you that was on the cover was injured, do you not think that you would be taking every measure to avoid being hurt? Once more, do you not think that with those measures that there is a greater chance for that player to be hurt? It is not the curse, but the idea of it that may be causing these injuries.

Finally, do you not believe it stupid that we are placing so much weight on something that has only been going on for the last few years? It could be understood if it were a streak of say, 30-40 years, but it is not. Instead, it is a streak that has yet to even break a decade. When it breaks a decade, we can talk. Until then, it is folly to believe that this curse is nothing more then in the minds of the individuals who are spreading it.

That is what it is, though, in all essence gossip. Someone who got a cover shot gets hurt from a minor injury and is instantly considered a victim because "The curse did it". That is an excuse, a stupid one at that. The player got hurt from something that either he did mistakenly, or what situations demanded. Not what some curse did. This curse is merely a head game, and anyone who believes it needs to sit down and look at the factual evidence of why the injury happened.

Which summarizes every point made quite nicely: The Madden curse is nothing more than a cheap ploy on the conscious of the people around us. Football is a physical sport, and this idiocy of believing that someone will be hurt because of some cover shot is lunacy at best, especially when people get hurt all the time from easily explainable things. The Madden curse is a false, carefully spread gossip that needs to stop.

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