Word: rb
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Hearst was the first person other than Madden to appear on the cover of the game, which debuted in 1989. During the playoffs, Hearst suffered a severe broken ankle that torpedoed not only that season but the following two as well. The following year's cover boy, Detroit Lions RB Barry Sanders - who only appeared in a silhouette behind Madden - announced he would be hanging up his spikes before training camp...
Three subsequent stars - the Packers' Dorsey Levens, who followed Sanders; Tennessee Titans RB Eddie George, in 2000; and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper - saw stalwart careers wither in the years immediately following their cover appearances. Other stars, including Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb (who graced the cover in 2005) and Seattle Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander (2006), have had their seasons derailed by injury. But the strongest argument for a cover jinx comes in the prison-garbed form of Michael Vick. When Vick appeared on the cover of Madden 2004, he was heralded as the future of the game, a rocket...
...George in 2000). Levens' 1999 campaign was among his best. Even players seen as evidence of a cover jinx still put up respectable - if diminished - numbers. Hearst galloped for 1,570 yards in 1998, scoring a Pro Bowl appearance in the process. And while St. Louis Rams RB Marshall Faulk's production slipped in 2002 - and fell precipitously after that - the jitterbugging back still notched 1,490 combined yards while coping with nagging injuries...
Alexander wasn't exactly right. San Diego Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson declined the offer in 2007, though not because he was superstitious; Tomlinson's reps weren't swayed by the reported $100,000 to $200,000 deal EA Sports, the game's manufacturer, offers players for use of their likeness. But even among a group renowned for being superstitious - athletes have tried to bust slumps by donning women's underwear, eating the same meal each day and performing elaborate foul-line rituals - talk of a Madden Curse doesn't seem to have caught much traction. And for good reason. Most...
...first quarter: Penn RB Michael DiMaggio (great last name, huh?) meets a crowd of Harvard defenders on a short game. Shouldn't this kid be number...