Christian McCaffrey graces cover of Madden. Is the curse real?

Your favorite athlete gracing the cover is technically an honor. But anyone familiar with the history of Madden, a once-legendary game that became a cash-grabbing pile of E.A. slop

Christian McCaffrey was named Madden's cover athlete for Madden NFL 25 this Tuesday. That is not to be confused with Madden NFL 25: 1984-2015, the 25th anniversary edition that was really Madden 14. McCaffrey will grace the cover as the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.

For those unfamiliar, there is a phenomenon called the Madden curse. Madden started putting athletes on the cover starting with Eddie George in 2001, who went from a 1,509-yard, 14-TD All-Pro season in 2000, to a 939-yard, 5-TD season in 2001. That's not quite curse level, but it's a major drop off.

Let's go back in time, year by year, to assess the reality of the curse. As a heads up, some of the Madden cover athletes have been involved in some bleak, off-field incidents and alleged or confirmed crimes that will be addressed below.

Madden 24: Josh Allen
The Bills, like the 49ers -- but with more emotional letdown -- could not beat the Chiefs again. They were riddled with injuries, but somehow still got their best shot to beat Kansas City. They couldn't do it. Then they traded Stefon Diggs and look like they're doing a mini-rebuild. It felt like a little bit of a cursed campaign.

Madden 23: John Madden
R.I.P. John Madden. The cover was an homage to him.

Madden 22: Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes
Brady has seven rings and Mahomes has been just fine himself... but this did come out before Brady's final season after winning a Super Bowl. Things went off the rails for Tampa in 2021, and Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen announced they filed for divorce in October of 2022.

Madden 21: Lamar Jackson
This was after Jackson's 2019 MVP campaign. And then COVID hit. So while the Ravens were fine (before losing 17-3 in the playoffs to the Bills), the world was not. Anything 2020 is cursed.

Madden 20: Patrick Mahomes
Maybe the only man immune to the curse? This was the year he and the Chiefs beat the 49ers.

Madden 19: Antonio Brown
Welp.

Madden 18: Tom Brady
This was Brady after winning another Super Bowl. Then he became a first-team All-Pro for the first time in seven years. But! But. He did get Nick Foles'd in the Super Bowl. I don't know if that qualifies as a curse for a normal person, but the Philly Special win feels like witchcraft against Brady.

Madden 17: Rob Gronkowski
The 2016 season was absolutely cursed for Gronk. After an 1,176-yard, 11-TD season in 2015, he played just eight games in 2016 with a mixture of a thigh/hamstring pull and a herniated disc in his back.

Madden 16: Odell Beckham Jr.
This was after Beckham's Rookie of the Year season in 2014, and he was still stellar in 2015.

Madden 15: Richard Sherman
This was after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl and should have repeated with a handoff to Marshawn Lynch. Instead... well, you know what happened. Sherman was still an All-Pro and the Seahawks remained competitive, but in their lore, that Super Bowl loss is absolutely cursed.

Madden 25 (2013 season): Adrian Peterson
This was after A.P.'s 2,097-yard season in 2012. His 2013 campaign was great, with 1,266 yards and 10 touchdowns, so it's hard to call it cursed. The following season he was indicted on a felony charge for disciplining and injuring his 4-year-old son with a switch, and was suspended for the 2014 season. He said he still hits his kid with a belt and was arrested in 2022 in connection with domestic violence.

Madden 13: Calvin Johnson
After making the playoffs in 2011, the Lions went a startling 4-12. Johnson had his career-high of 1,967 yards receiving in the season, but that drop off from the Lions was harrowing.

Madden 12: Peyton Hillis
This is one of the poster boys for the Madden curse. After an 1,177-yard, 10-TD performance in 2010 that seemed like a breakout, Hillis just about fell off the face of the Earth. He had 587 yards and 3 TDs in 2011, and only declined each year from there before flaming out of the league.

Madden 11: Drew Brees
After Brees' only Super Bowl win in 2009, he threw a career-high 22 interceptions in 2010, and the Saints lost immediately in the Wild Card Round. Brees never won a Super Bowl again.

Madden 10: Troy Polamalu/Larry Fitzgerald
This came after they played in won of the most cursed Super Bowls in NFL history. The Steelers missed the playoffs after their Super Bowl win and Fitzgerald and the Cardinals lost to Brees' soon-to-be-champion Saints. Polamalu played just five games in the 2009 season after tearing his MCL and PCL. Even if Fitzgerald and the Cardinals had a good season, that's one objectively cursed season out of the two.

Madden '09: Brett Favre
Brett Favre, the human dumpster. I don't know if that's his nickname, but he's one person whose legacy cannot be separated from his sexual harassment and embezzlement cases.

Not familiar with the latter? Allegedly, Favre, with the help of former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, had $5 million of state welfare funds redirected to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was playing volleyball. It is well-detailed here, by ESPN. In February, a state auditor countersued Favre, alleging he owed $729,000 in interest for speaking services he failed to complete related to the welfare funds.

Oh, and as far as this Madden title goes, it's the year Favre went to the Jets, followed by the Vikings, the two stints during which he was accused of sexual harassment. Brett Favre is not cursed, he is a curse.

Madden '08: Vince Young
This came after a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2006. He had another good year in 2007, then suffered an early knee injury in 2008 and was benched for Kerry Collins. He was somehow a Pro Bowler in 2009, then declined for two years before being done in the league.

Madden '07: Shaun Alexander
This is another prime example of the curse. After Alexander had one of the greatest seasons of all time in 2005, with 1,880 rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns, he declined massively in 2006, with 896 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. He had another similar year in 2007, before his final season with Washington in which he played just four games.

Madden '06: Donovan McNabb
McNabb's 2004 season got him on the cover. The Eagles lost to the Patriots 24-21 in the Super Bowl. His 2005 season was a mess. He started the season on the injured reserve list, while he and Terrell Owens were not on speaking terms. He played through a hernia and thumb injury, then injured his groin trying to make a tackle on an interception. That's a cursed season.

Madden 2005: Ray Lewis
The 2004 season began a three-year playoff drought for Lewis and the Ravens, but he was a back-to-back All-Pro in 2023 and 2024. Their playoff miss in 2004 was largely the result of back-to-back losses to the Peyton Manning-led Colts and rival Pittsburgh Steelers in Weeks 15 and 16.

Madden 2004: Michael Vick
The greatest Madden player of all time. After a Pro Bowl season in 2002, Vick fractured his right fibula in a preseason game. The Falcons missed the playoffs after making it in 2002, and again in 2004 with Vick healthy. We all know about the dogfighting ring scandal that saw him incarcerated and out of the league from 2006-08.

Madden 2003: Marshall Faulk
The 2002 season was a notable decline for Faulk after three-straight All-Pro seasons and four with more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage. He was still great in 2002, with 953 rushing yards and 537 receiving yards, but it was the beginning of his decline. It was also the first playoff miss for the Rams in four years.

Madden 2002: Daunte Culpepper
The 2001 season was a huge drop off for Culpepper after his first Pro Bowl season in his first year as the Vikings' starter. He had a 33-16 TD-to-INT ratio in 2000 and made the playoffs. In 2001, that dropped to a 13-14 ratio, and the Vikings missed the playoffs the next three seasons.

Madden 2001: Eddie George
Mentioned at the top of this story.

VERDICT: Is the Madden Curse real?
As someone who thinks we are not smart enough to ignore weird phenomena and shrug them off because we don't have logical explanations, I think we should consider the possibility that the Madden Curse is real.

However, I think the reality is that with running backs, it's a war of attrition and there is a rapidly ticking clock. Most running backs who make the cover of Madden are at the peak of their powers, which means they're a step away from falling off that mountaintop and falling down the other side. That's why there should be concern for McCaffrey after a 417-touch season. He is a small back who takes punishment, and eventually, that adds up.

That said, the 49ers added Isaac Guerendo and Kyle Shanahan said he intends to lighten the load on McCaffrey in the run game. The 49ers basically guaranteed the next two years of his deal (with no real need to, other than to please McCaffrey and open some more money up this season), and added what amounts to a third-year option. They clearly think there's more juice left in the tank. But with running backs, when it's over, it sometimes happens quick.