Is The Madden Curse Real? Tom Brady Announced For Madden '18 Cover

If the vaunted “Madden Curse” is real, there might be no better test than the 2017 NFL season. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will grace the cover of Madden NFL ‘18, following arguably the best season of his career.

EA Sports announced Friday that Brady would be on the cover, marking the second straight season in which a Patriots player has been given the honor. While many players that have been featured on the cover in years’ past have suffered injuries or struggles on the field, Brady doesn’t believe his performance will be affected.

“There’s no such things as curses. It’s a total myth," Brady said in a video on Facebook.

After missing the first four games of the 2016 season because of his Deflategate suspension, Brady threw for 28 touchdowns and two interceptions, posting a 112.2 passer rating on his way towards winning a fifth Super Bowl ring. He cemented his position as the greatest quarterback of all time and is still the NFL’s best signal caller as he approaches his 40th birthday.

With no signs of Brady slowing down, some fans might point to the Madden Curse if he has a down year.

Does the Madden Curse exist? Let’s take a look at how previous players performed when they were put on the video game’s cover.

Madden '01: Eddie George, Tennessee Titans

It’d be hard to say that George was affected by the curse. After rushing for 1,304 yards and nine touchdowns in 1999, he set career highs with 1,509 yards on the ground and 14 rushing touchdowns during the season in which he graced the cover.

Madden '02: Daunte Culpepper, Minnesota Vikings

The quarterback certainly had his struggles when he was on the cover. Throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdown passes in 2000, he struggled in just 11 games in 2001 with 2,612 yards, 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Culpepper would bounce back to make the Pro Bowl in 2003 and 2004.

Madden '03: Marshall Faulk, St. Louis Rams

Faulk is one of the prime examples people give when talking about the Madden Curse. He was probably the NFL’s best player with three straight seasons as the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. In 2002, he failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time since 1996 and totaled 656 fewer yards from scrimmage than he had the previous season. Faulk was never the same player again and retired after the 2005 season.

Madden '04: Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons

Vick wasn’t sent to jail for dog fighting until a few years after his appearance on the Madden cover. But he missed most of the 2003 season when he fractured his right fibula in the preseason. Big things were expected out of the quarterback, who helped the Falcons win a playoff game at Lambeau Field just eight months earlier.

Madden '05: Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens

Lewis would be a difficult example to use when trying to prove the curse exists, though he didn’t have his typical dominant season. After being named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the linebacker wasn’t named to an All-Pro team. He failed to record an interception after racking up six in 2003, and the Ravens missed the playoffs.

Madden '06: Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles

Coincidence or not, McNabb’s run as one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks concluded when he was put on the Madden cover. His streak of five straight Pro Bowl selections ended. He played just nine games because of an injury and threw for 2,507 yards, while the Eagles failed to make the playoffs after reaching the conference championship game in four straight seasons.

Madden '07: Shaun Alexander, Seattle Seahawks

The idea of the Madden Curse really picked up steam in the 2006 season. Alexander went from being the NFL MVP in 2005 to playing just 10 games and rushing for almost 1,000 fewer yards. The running back rushed for at least 1,175 yards in each season from 2001-2005, and he was out of the league by 2009.

Madden '08: Vince Young, Tennessee Titans

Young went from one of the league’s most promising young players to one of the NFL’s worst starting quarterbacks. He reached the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2006, but he threw nine touchdown passes and 17 interceptions in his cover season.

Madden '09: Brett Favre, New York Jets

Favre certainly didn’t have one of his best seasons in 2008, tossing 22 touchdowns and 22 interceptions for a .500 New York Jets team. Favre was given the honor when it was thought he was retired, and he was pictured wearing a Green Bay Packers’ jersey on the cover. Favre did make the Pro Bowl in 2008, though he was much better in 2007 and 2009 when he threw 13 and 26 more touchdowns than picks, respectively.

Madden '10: Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers

The 2009 season was one of Polamalu's worst. A left knee injury forced him to miss 11 games, and it broke his streak of five straight Pro Bowl selections. The safety came back better than ever in 2010 by winning the award for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Madden '11: Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Brees is one of the biggest argument against the Madden Curse. His numbers weren’t the best of his career, but he led the Saints to their only Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The quarterback was even named the 2010 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

Madden '12: Peyton Hillis, Cleveland Browns

Hillis had one good year in the NFL, and that was the year before be made the Madden cover. He rushed for 1,177 yards in 2010, and never even reached half of that total in his six other NFL seasons.

Madden '13: Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions

No player has ever had a better individual season when gracing the Madden cover than Johnson did in 2012. He set an NFL record with 1,964 receiving yards while catching a career-high 122 passes.

Madden '14: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

Peterson didn’t put up the incredible numbers that he did the previous year when he won the NFL MVP award, but he was still among the league’s best running backs in 2013 with 1,266 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Madden '15: Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks

Just when it appeared that players were thriving on the cover, Sherman and the Seahawks gave the Madden Curse believers another reason to think the jinx exists. Sure the cornerback made another Pro Bowl, but his team was defeated in the final seconds of the Super Bowl in heartbreaking fashion.

Madden '16: Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants

The wide receiver thrived in 2015, becoming one of the NFL’s most popular players. His 1,450 yards and 13 receiving touchdowns from that year are the most he’s had in any of his three seasons.

Madden '17: Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

The 2016 season was not a successful individual campaign for the tight end, considering he missed the final half of the year with an injury. But he did win a second ring as he watched the New England Patriots complete the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.