Madden curse strikes again
"Madden 10" cover athlete Troy Polamalu becomes latest victim of legendary curse.
Chalk another one up to the Madden Curse.
Only two quarters into the first game of the season, Madden co-cover boy Troy Polamalu is helped off the field with a sprained medial collateral ligament and could already be out 3-6 weeks according to early reports.
HISTORY OF THE MADDEN CURSE
Is the Madden curse fact or fiction? In the interest of scientific research, we take a look back at the past "victims" of the curse and lay out the evidence for you to decide for yourself.
But that's nothing new (or surprising) to anyone who knows the history of the Madden video game series and the strange curse it seems to have over most athletes who appear on its cover.
Here's a quick recap of a few of the more notable injuries of past Madden cover athletes:
- Brett Favre ("Madden 09"): torn biceps tendon
- Shaun Alexander ("Madden 07"): fractured foot
- Michael Vick ("Madden 2004"): fractured right fibula
- Donovan McNabb ("Madden 06"): sports hernia
Is the Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald, the other player on the "Madden 10" cover, next?
When I spoke to Fitzgerald earlier this year, he had his doubts about the curse's potential power.
"Two guys makes the curse powerless," he told me back in April. "This is the first time there are two players on the cover, first 'Madden' game after John Madden retired, and besides, both of us have long hair. Nobody with long hair has ever been on the cover."
"Long hair gets rid of curses?" I asked.
"Gets right rid of it," he replied.
Poor Larry. He thought long hair was like garlic to vampires.
Appears to be more like honey to flies.
