ESPN

How do you say "cursed" in Spanish? That's the first question I ask Roberto Garza of the Bears, the cover athlete of Madden NFL 09 en Español, and the latest athlete to be playing in the spotlight with what has become the most talked-about and unrelenting curse in all of sports.

Last season, Luis Castillo was the first player to grace the cover of Madden Español and he was also the first to find out that the curse is easily translated into Spanish, having by far the worst season of his career.

"I don't believe," Garza says. "It only works in English, this is Madden Español."

Garza has been a Madden fan since he first started playing video games as a kid and he can't believe EA Sports picked an offensive lineman to grace the box cover.

"An offensive lineman on the cover? Seriously?" I ask him, "I thought for sure they'd put Ocho Cinco."

"He did officially change his name," Garza laughs. "But anytime an offensive lineman can get a little love and get on the cover of a game, that's a great thing. All my family and friends are really excited. I realize it's Madden Español, but it's still Madden and I never dreamed I'd ever have this opportunity. When they came out with Madden Español and put Luis Castillo on the cover last year I was hoping that I'd get an opportunity to be on the cover. When they came to me and asked if I wanted to be on the cover, I was like 'are you kidding me?' It's great. It's something my family will be able to enjoy."

Garza, who also has a street in his hometown of Rio Hondo, Texas named after him is also proud to represent EA Sports for a game that is more than just a Spanish translation with new music. Garza also sees Madden as a teaching tool for kids who pick up the game and want to learn about the sport of football for the first time.

"Who doesn't play Madden?" Asks Garza. "And the thing is, you have so many kids who might not understand football, but they're learning it through the game. If you have a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360, you're playing Madden, and this gives you the opportunity to learn the positions and learn the plays and get a better understanding of the sport. At the same time, Latinos follow football and are very passionate about the league and their teams. So for EA to reach out like this, it's a smart move because the Latino community is very appreciative and it's only going to expand the market."

To Garza, though, the greatest thing about Madden is, like the NFL itself, the competition.

Says Garza: "Madden was all about bragging rights between me and my brothers. We'd play it all the time. Now in the locker room we have Madden in our player's lounge and guys are in there all the time playing. It's all about bragging rights, and it's not only about who you beat, it's about how bad you beat them. I have an Xbox 360 at home and I play our opponents before we play them as I go through the season. Every week so far I've beaten the teams, so hopefully that will help us win on Sunday. Matt Forte is an incredible back for us in real life and I give him the ball in the game all the time. He's explosive, hits holes, and there isn't one guy who can bring him down on their own. We can play with anybody, we just need to not beat ourselves."

As for Garza's character in the game, the big man takes it all in stride: "If you have a big gut in the game, that's probably because you have a big gut in real life too. You just need to deal with it."

"So how do you say 'curse' in Spanish, anyway?" I ask.

"Maldicion," he says with a nervous laugh. "But I'm not buying into it. That's the one thing EA Sports didn't translate."