Christian McCaffrey was named the “Madden NFL 25” cover athlete on Tuesday, and he didn’t wait long to tempt fate.
Speaking to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the San Francisco 49ers running back was asked if he was at all concerned about the legendary ‘Madden curse’ when he accepted the offer to become a cover athlete. He didn’t sound very concerned:
“No, I’m not superstitious about it at all. I was so excited, man. This was such an honor. When I first got the call, I was in shock. It’s something I never thought would happen to me. I never thought someone would call and say I’m on the cover of Madden.
“So when I got the call, I wasn’t thinking about a curse, I was just excited. I think that’s a bit of a myth and whatever happens, happens. I’m excited to be on the cover.
Considering McCaffrey’s injury history, those are bold words.
McCaffrey is the best running back in the NFL this season after leading the league in rushing with a career-high of 1,459 rushing yards, plus 564 receiving yards and a career-high of 21 total touchdowns in 2023. He has proven to be a perfect match for the Niners, who took him all the way to Super Bowl LVIII last season.
However, McCaffrey has had trouble staying healthy in the past, playing just 10 total games for the Carolina Panthers between 2020 and 2021. Could an appearance on the Madden cover lead to more misery?
Let’s take a closer look at how things turned out for its predecessors.
Is the Madden curse dead?
There’s no denying that the history of the “Madden NFL” has left some cover athletes suffering years or worse the following year.
There are certainly some examples that stand out, such as Michael Vick (2003) who broke his fibula and Peyton Hillis (2012) who battled throat and hamstring issues for a team that let him walk at the end of the year. But as you’ll see, the past ten seasons have been up and down post-Madden, so here’s a closer look.
For the scale, we’ll use a five-point system named after Hillis, for whom the Cleveland Browns and various trolls cast an online vote against a post-scandal Vick (probably to the relief of Madden’s publisher).
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“Madden NFL 24,” Josh Allen: Had a relatively down year with a career-high in interceptions, Bills won the division, but lost to Chiefs in the divisional round. 3/5 Hills.
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“Madden NFL 23”, John Madden: N/A
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“Madden NFL 22,” Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes: Brady was slightly less productive in his final season at age 45, while Mahomes had another Pro Bowl year, stunning the Bills in the “13 Seconds” game and losing to the Bengals in the AFC Championship. 2/5 Hills.
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“Madden NFL 21,” Lamar Jackson: Played well, but not as well as his previous MVP year. Ravens got off to a slow start and faced a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak, but managed to secure a wild card berth, where they got revenge on the Titans but were swept by the Bills. 2/5 Hills
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“Madden NFL 20,” Patrick Mahomes: Won the Super Bowl. 0/5 Hills.
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“Madden NFL 19”, Antonio Brown: Had a decent year by his standards until he got into a fight with Ben Roethlisberger, got benched for missing practice in Week 17 and demanded a trade, kicking off one of the most bizarre stretches in history we’ve ever seen from a player. 5/5 Hills.
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“Madden NFL 18,” Tom Brady: Won his third MVP award, led the NFL in passing and reached the Super Bowl, where the Patriots lost to the Eagles on the “Philly special.” 1/5 Hills.
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“Madden NFL 17,” Rob Gronkowski: Was sidelined for the season with a hernia in Week 12, didn’t play a down in the Patriots’ Super Bowl run. 4/5 Hillises, 5/5 if you don’t care about rings.
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“Madden NFL 16”, Odell Beckham Jr.: Posted the most productive season of his career, with a career-high in receiving yards and touchdowns, but was also suspended a game for safety violations as the Giants won 6–10. 1/5 Hills.
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“Madden NFL 15,” Richard Sherman: Earned his third straight first-team All-Pro honors and helped lead the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Patriots in the Malcolm Butler game. You may remember that his stunned reaction went viral. 2/5 Hills.
So it was a bit of a mixed bag. You could say that the majority of athletes on the past ten Madden covers have suffered bad years, but that’s the nature of football. Players get injured and underperform, with their problems amplified by both the Madden cover and the expectations created by the types of seasons that lead to a Madden cover.
The problem with many of those seasons, even the bad ones, is that quite a few players would kill just to be able to call a season like Allen’s 2023, with 4,306 passing yards and an 11-6 record, a bad year . It’s all relative, with very high standards, and ultimately it’s very easy to call any season that doesn’t end in a Super Bowl a failure.
So the curse will live on, barring an incredible string of successes, fully embedded in American sports and video game culture.
