EA Sports announced Tom Brady as their cover guy for the launch of the newest, upcoming Madden 18. However, considering the astounding curse that has plagued nearly every athlete who has graced the cover of the video game, Patriots fans are freaking out. Brady himself, not so much.
The Patriots quarterback, who will turn 40 in August, is coming off his fifth Super Bowl championship, the most all-time, appropriately earning him the Madden 18 G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) edition. But, it’s a huge risk considering what’s happened to previous cover athletes. In fact, we’ve wrote about it before, just last year, actually, following the announcement of Brady’s teammate, Rob Gronkowski, making the cover.
Here’s what happened to Gronk and all the other athletes who have been cursed from Madden:
2017: Rob Gronkowski – After 10 TDs and a 1,000 yard season, Gronk didn’t start the new season until week 5 before having back surgery which placed him on injured reserved December 3. He missed the rest of the season, including the Super Bowl, finishing the year with just 540 yards and 3 TDs on 25 catches.
2014: Adrian Peterson – Coming off a season with the 2nd most rushing yards in NFL history, he struggled this next season with a nagging foot injury that put him on the sidelines for the rest of the season by December.
2012: Peyton Hillis – The former fullback surprised everyone, including Browns fans, with a season of 1,177 yards rushing and 477 yards receiving. But after making the Madden cover? He played just ten games, racking up just 587 yards rushing, and the Browns refused to re-sign him.
2011: Drew Brees – After a record breaking season in which he also led the Saints to their first Super Bowl win, making the cover for Brees meant the following year he threw twice as many interceptions and lost in the first round of the playoffs to a losing team.
2010: Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu – Both players were considered the best in the game, Fitzy on offense and Polamalu on defense; they were both perennial Pro Bowlers. After gracing the cover? Fitzy’s numbers went down with the exit of Kurt Warner and Polamalu sprained his MCL the first game of the season and battled injuries all year.
2009: Brett Favre – Favre ‘retired’ after another epic year that solidified him as a future Hall-of-Famer. But after getting the cover he decided to sign with the Jets, send penis pics to a reporter and injure his shoulder.
2008: Vince Young – Young went from BCS champion and excellent rookie quarterback who broke records, to a guy who was a backup quarterback half way into the following season; part of it was due to injuries, part of it was due to the fact he was a terrible quarterback.
2007: Shaun Alexander – The season before Madden? He became the first running back in league history to score 15 TDs in five straight seasons. He also broke the Seahawks’ record for rushing. After Madden? He broke his foot in week 3 and had his first non-1,000 yard rushing season with the team.
You get the idea. The list goes on and on for athletes who’ve been cursed: Donovan McNabb, Ray Lewis, Michael Vick, Marshall Faulk, Daunte Culpepper, Eddie George, Garrison Hearst.
The curse is real. Even Business Insider recognizes it. So you know it’s real.
But Brady, because he’s Brady, doesn’t give a damn, making fun of the curse in the video below with what’s called the ‘TB12 Performance Safety Bubble.’
But Brady, no bubble can stop the curse.
Jimmy Garoppolo, you’re up.
Madden 18 launches on August 25 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
