Which Of These Men Is Doomed?

By Akela Talamasca on April 23rd, 2009

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The Madden series of football video games is probably the biggest deal to fans of the genre. Every year, a new edition of the title gets pushed out there, and every year, there’s buzz over which athlete will receive the accolade of being on the game’s cover. Despite talk of the spot being up for auction, Electronic Arts has made available its list of the nine candidates for the coveted position. They are: Troy Polamalu, Peyton Manning, Larry Fitzgerald, Matt Cassel, DeMarcus Ware, Ben Roethlisberger, Brandon Jacobs, Adrian Peterson, Ed Reed.

Regardless of your personal preference, the question on everyone’s mind is: Which one of these guys is doomed? You see, since 1999, the last year that John Madden himself graced the cover of the franchise, each succeeding year has spotlighted a different athlete, and each of those athletes have since gone on to suffer an injury or performance setback, causing many to believe that there is a “Madden Curse” in effect. Snopes.com has the exhaustive rundown.

Now, let’s be clear: pretty much all professional endeavors have their superstitions. From Wade Boggs’s determination that eating fried chicken before a game makes him play better, to theater actors’ refusal to say the name “Macbeth” during a stage production, there is no shortage of belief in possibly-paranormal phenomena surrounding any performance-related event. And as we know, the more one focuses on an outcome, the more you’ll expect that outcome to occur, even going so far as to bend your interpretation of events to match your expectation.

In the field of football, players experience injuries all the time. It’s hardly realistic to expect that any player, Madden cover or not, can escape some form of hurt. But human beings look for patterns all the time, and can’t seem to let go of this one in particular. And let’s not forget: for there to be a curse, someone has to cast the curse. So, I ask you: of those on the above list, who are you rooting for? And are you doing so for the right reasons?