The NFL series is one of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the best-selling franchises out there. While it does help t🍌hat publisher EA has an exclusivity👍 deal with the league, it still manages to top sales chart with every entry. Part of it has to do with whatever athlete happens to grace the cover of each year's game. But a curse has seemed to strike players who grace the cover.
Ever since John Madden stopped appearing on the cover of games, most players have been having on-the-field issues such as bad performance and/or injuries. While it usually only lasts a season or two, sometimes the issues persist even after that period. This also affects 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the player's overall in the games. Here are players that have been struc💜𒅌k by the Madden curse.
8 ♛ Garrison Hearst (Madden 99)
Starting this list with the first victim of the Madden curse is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:running back Garrison Hearst who played for the San Francisco 49ers. What earned him his cover was the fact that he had set several franchise rec🉐ords in 1998 along with one of the longest rushes in his team's opening game that ye🏅ar against the Jets.
But then he suffered a broken ankl🅘e in a playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons the following season. A botched surgery meant to fix his ankle would cause Hearst to spend two seasons on the bench recovering from the injury.
7 ♏ Brett Favr🌞e (Madden 09)
The irony with this cover is that the quarterback was made the cover athlete in order to honor his car꧟eer with the Packers after initially announcing his retirement. But then he decided not to and signed with the New York Jets.
While Favre did have 🐲a decent season with them, despite off the field issues, he still suffered ꦚa right shoulder injury that year. While he was already in his twilight years, this injury would plague him until he retired for good in 2011 and he only spent one season with the Jets.
6 ꦉ Rob Gronkowski (Madden 17)
Before he appeared on the cover of Madden, Gronk was showing how he could very well be perhaps the greatest tight end in NFL history and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:one of the best players for that matter. Even after appearing on thꦡe cove✃r he was still a key part of the New England Patriots' offense.
But the injury bug associate🐷d with the Madden curse hit Gronk hard. He would miss several games ovꦛer the next few seasons. It would get so bad that he would actually end up retiring. He would come out of it after a season to rejoin his best bud Tom Brady where he helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win a Super Bowl.
5 Antonio Brown (Madden 19) �🐲�
Unlike other players on this, the curse struck Brown's career off the field. While his stats indicated he was still one of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the best wide receivers, his tox🧜ic at best antics outside of football nearly caused him to be forever blacklisted from the NFL.
After Brown parted with the Pittsburgh Steelers on bad terms, he signed with the Oakland Raiders. His problems only snowballed after he suffe🏅red frostbite on his feet from cryotherapy and he threatened retirement after the NFL wouldn't let him use a certain helmet. He eventually refused to play for the Raiders altogether and was cut by them, then he was sent to the Patriots and was cut by them. It seemed his career was over until the Buccaneers gave him a second chance where he would win a Super Bowl with them.
4 Donovan McNab𓂃b (Madden 06)
McNabb was one of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the best quarterbacks of his era. He wa꧒s easily the face of the Philadelphia Eagles' offense and would help lead them to play in Super Bowl 39. Appearing on the cꦑover of Madden was a highlight for him and it would seem things would only get better for him.
But then later into the 2005 season he suffered a groin injury and then the following season he suffered a torn ACL. After these injuries he was never t♎he same player and became struck with inconsistent play for the remainder of what was otherwise a pretty solid career.
3 ๊ Michael Vick (Madden 2004)
Bef☂ore Lamar Jackson was lighting up the league with his electric approach t🐬o playing quarterback with the Baltimore Ravens, Michael Vick was doing the same over a decade ago with the Falcons. No other quarterback could run the ball quite like he could and appearing on the cover of Madden was another accolade in his career.
But shortly after the reveal, he suffered a fractured fibula and missed the first 11 games of the 2003 season. If that was not bad enough, he would then be discovered to be involved in a dog-fighting ring in which he was known to have infamously shot dogs. This would cost him his job with the Falcons and though he would make a comeback with the Eagles, this still casts a huge shadow over both his career an🎀d life.
2 Daunte Culpepper (Madden 2002) 🃏 ꦏ
Prior to his cover appearance, Culpepper was o🍎ne of the hottest young quarterbacks in the league. He, along with receiver Randy Moss, woღuld help lead the Minnesota Vikings to the 2000 NFC Championship game. Things seemed to be looking up for him.
But then came the cover appearance and the curse. Culpepper would end up suffering a kꦡnee injury in a 2001 game against the Steelers and would miss the remainder of the season. Culpepper was never the same player as his🐻 performance would gradually worsen as the years went by.
1 🌳 Peyton Hillis (Madden 12) ▨
Who? Peyton Hillis was a running backও who seemingly came out of nowhere for the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 season where he had rushed for over 1,000 yards and was also good at catching the ball too. This guy was all of a sudden being compared to the likes of Marshall Faulk and would seem to be the sole ray of hope for a long struggling franchise.
Sadly though, after actually being voted to appear on the cover of Madden by fans, Hillis would begin having contract disputes with the Browns before the following season. Then an injured hamstring would hamper his performance rushing for only 587 yards and playing in only 10 games. The Browns did not resign him the next year bringing a sad end to what looked like to 🧜be the start of a great career.