The Madden Curse

For years, John Madden's image sat on the cover of his famous game by EA Sports.

In 2001, that changed when Tennessee Titan Eddie George became the first player to grace the cover.

And with that, the Madden Curse was born.

Every year since then the player on the cover of the game has suffered some kind of unexpected injury or twist of fate.

Just look at the evidence.

2001 - Eddie George comes off the best year of his career, rushing for 1,509 yards and 14 TDs in 2000. The Titans also finished 13-3 and lost in the Super Bowl. In 2001 George wouldn't reach 1,000 yards, and the Titans would finish 7-9. George would never be a valuable running back again.

2002 - After throwing 33 touchdown passes and 3,900 yards in 2001, Daunte Culpepper was put on the cover of Madden 2002. He responded by throwing for 2,612 yards, and 14 TDs to go along with 13 INT as the Vikings finished 5-11. Culpepper also missed 4 games due to injury. Culpepper has never been the same QB.

2003 - Marshall Faulk was the most electrifying player in football, so it made sense to put him on the cover of Madden 2003. He responded with the worst year since his rookie season and the Rams went 7-9, missing the playoffs.
2004 - Mike Vick was Madden 2004's cover boy, and then a day after the game came out he broke his leg in a preseason game. Vick would miss the first 11 games of the season as the Falcons finished 5-11.

2005 - Ray Lewis was the only player to seemingly escape the curse. His numbers for the season were relatively the same as always, and he only missed one game due to injury. He did however have the only year of his career where he didn't make one interception. My theory is that the curse came after Lewis, but was then stabbed to death by Ray Ray.

2006 - Donovan McNabb was on the cover of Madden 2006, and the curse was reborn. After 9 games McNabb was shut down for the season, and the defending NFC champion Eagles finished 6-10, missing the playoffs.

2007 - Shaun Alexander made the cover this season, after breaking the NFL's touchdown record with 28 last season. Yesterday he broke a bone in his foot during a 42-30 Seattle victory, and is now out indefinetely.

So all this got me to thinking:

Who do we here at Foul Balls want to see on next year's Madden Cover?

Here's a list of 5 people I would love to see on the front of Madden 2008.

1. Bill Wirtz - Owner Chicago Blackhawks - There was a time in my life where I actually cared about hockey. That time has passed, and it's largely due to Bill Wirtz. Wirtz' brilliant idea to get a shrinking fan base to come back to the United Center to see the Blackhawks again is to not show home games on television. Hey, everybody!! It's 1972!!!!!!!
2. Johan Santana-Pitcher Minnesota Twins - Johan dominates the entire American League, but not as often as he dominates my White Sox. Even when he doesn't pitch that well, the White Sox can't touch him. I would love to see Johan on the cover of Madden 2008 and then watch his arm rip out of it's socket and fly towards home plate.
3. Paris Hilton - Whore - I just really hate Paris Hilton.
4. Steve Smith - Wide Receiver Carolina Panthers - I will never forgive Steve Smith for what he did against the Bears in the playoffs last year. Then to make matters worse, I get him on my fantasy team this year, and he goes out and pulls a hamstring missing the first two games and helping my team (Swamp Nutz) get off to a 1-2 start.
5. Vince Young - Quarterback Tennessee Titans - Let's just say that Mr. Young cost Foul Balls a pretty significant amount of money by single handedly carrying the Texas Longhorns to a National Title, defeating the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl this year. I want my revenge.

So dear readers, who would you like to see on the cover of Madden 2008? Leave your choices in the comments, and obviously, it's not limited to football players.