The Madden NFL Cover Curse: Is It Dead?

Sportscasting.com has analyzed the numbers surrounding the athletes that grace the cover of the Madden NFL video game, and whether the “Curse” still exists.

Key Highlights

• The four quarterbacks who have experienced the Madden Curse threw for 48.5% fewer touchdowns in their cover season than the previous year
• 6 of the first 8 Madden cover athletes were victims of the Curse
• Of the 5 running backs who have been on the cover, only Eddie George avoided The Curse in 2001
• The last player to be truly affected by the Madden Curse was Rob Gronkowski in 2017

After a stellar 2023 regular season campaign, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was named the cover athlete for the 2025 Madden NFL video game. While it is certainly an honor to be the face of one of the biggest sports video game franchises in existence, a potential stigma comes attached, and a chance for the “Madden Curse” to rear its ugly head.

Year Athlete Previous Year Stats Cover Year Stats

2002 Daunte Culpepper 3,937 yards, 33 TDs 2,612 yards, 14 TDs

2003 Marshall Faulk 1,832 yards, 21 TDs 953 yards, 10 TDs

2004 Michael Vick 3,713 total yards, 24 TDs 840 total yards, 10 TDs

2006 Donovan McNabb 3,875 yards, 31 TDs 2,507 yards, 16 TDs

2007 Shaun Alexander 1,880 yards, 27 TDs 896 yards, 7 TDs

2008 Vince Young 2,199 yards, 12 TDs 13 INT 2,546 yards, 9 TDs, 17 INT

2010 Troy Polamalu 16 games, 7 INT, 1st team all pro 5 games, 3 INT

2012 Peyton Hillis 1,177 yards, 11 TDs 587 yards, 3 TDs

2014 Adrian Peterson 2,097 yards, 12 TDs 1,266 yards, 10 TDs

2017 Rob Gronkowski 15 games, 1,176 yards, 11 TDs 8 games, 540 yards 3 TDs

But is the curse still a thing? We took a deep dive into the statistics over the years for players before and after they were presented with the Madden Cover honor.

The Madden NFL franchise has been putting current athletes on the cover of their video game since 2001. It didn’t take long to notice that there was an unfortunate pattern of sorts, as many of the cover athletes suffered hardships or dips in production after being named the face of that year’s version of the game.

In fact, six of the first eight cover athletes experienced a noticeable dip in their numbers or had some kind of injury affect their season. Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, and Michael Vick all had the campaigns following their cover appearance cut short due to injury, as did Donovan McNabb and Shaun Alexander in following years.

The only players within the first 8 years of athletes being on the cover to not suffer from the Madden Curse were Eddie George in 2001 and Ray Lewis in 2005. In the early years, the Curse was hitting at a 75% clip.

Just 3 Cases Of “The Curse” Have Occurred Since 2010

Things have gotten a bit better over the past 15 seasons, but the Curse still pops up occasionally to remind us of the early 2000s. Adrian Peterson and Rob Gronkowski were victims in their respective years on the cover (2014, 2017), and Patrick Mahomes had his touchdown numbers nearly cut in half one of the two times that he appeared.

But since 2010, there have been only four Madden Cover Curses that have surfaced, good for a clip of roughly 28%. Overall, of the 25 NFL players that have received the honor since 2001, 10 of them have experienced some type or injury or drop off (40%).

Each of the first four quarterbacks that graced the cover experienced the Curse, which can be bumped to five if you include Brett Favre throwing 22 interceptions in 2009. None of the seven QBs since have had any sort of drop off in their cover season.

If history is any indication, Christian McCaffrey could be due for a regression in 2024. Of the five running backs that have graced the cover before him, four of them fell victim to The Curse, with only Eddie George being the one to avoid it way back in 2001.

One of the most questioned Madden cover athletes of all time was Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis. After rushing for 1,177 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2010, Hillis had just 587 and 3 in the year he was honored.

The last player to be truly affected by the Madden Curse was Rob Gronkowski. He played in just 8 games in 2016 and had 540 yards and 3 touchdowns.