This is a funny off-season. Funny as in there’s no actual football, we’re in the middle of a lock out and the world seems to have turned upside down.

But despite the owners and the NFLPA’s best attempts to distract fans from their real love, there is one thing that will always bring the fans together. Madden.

This year the creators of Madden are allowing fans to have a say in who gets to grace the cover of the game. I don’t know how you vote, probably at ESPN, and frankly, I don’t care. It makes absolutely NO difference to me who is on the cover of Madden 12.

It has come to my attention though, that there are A LOT of people who care who is on the cover. I’ve always heard rumblings about the Madden Curse, but it wasn’t until faced with the threat of Aaron Rodgers being honored with the cover, that I really dug my nose in.

Apparently there is a section of fans, and players, who believe whole heartedly that appearing on the cover of Madden will bring about horrible, awful, bad luck. Now, I’m a girl who has worn the same pair of green underwear for every Packers game for the last 5 years (YES, I wash them!) so I’m not one to go around calling anyone else’s superstitions crazy. But I am here today to say it loud and say it clear; There is NO Madden Curse.

Last night on twitter some people mentioned the Wikipedia Madden Curse page and all the evidence on it and how, even if coincidental, it was pretty convincing. So this morning, I took my own look at it. Apart from my initial eye roll and shocked face that people do get injured in football, I realized that upon first glance, this data could look pretty convincing to a great many people. But I was not satisfied. So I did a little digging and here’s my “proof” that there is no curse.

Madden 2001. Eddie George. Wikipedia blames the Titans losing in the playoffs in 2001 on George’s cover appearance. I’m asking everyone, right now, to take a second and really think about the Titans. I’m guessing after about 15 seconds of thinking about it, you’ve come to the conclusion, like I did, that George was probably the REASON they were even in the playoffs.  Second, Eddie George’s decline. It’s stated that he never again has a season where he averaged over 3.3 yards per carry. While that is true, it fails to take into account his heavy work load; 5 out of his 8 seasons, George carried the ball more than 330 times. In 2001 he rushed for 939 yards and in 2002 he rushed for 1031; hardly bad numbers. In fact the horrible stat of never averaging above 3.3 is actually pretty on par with his career average, which is 3.6 yards per carry.

Madden 2002. Daunte Culpepper. Yes, the season following his cover appearance was a pretty awful one for Culpepper, interceptions and fumbles galore. The Vikings had an awful record that year. But that cannot be completely blamed on Culpepper and the cover. That season the Vikings had the 30^th ranked scoring defense, giving up a total of 442 points. In contrast they had the 8^th scoring offense, an offense that Culpepper was the leader of. The year before he was on the cover Culpepper threw 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, so it really shouldn’t be THAT surprising that the following year, playing with an awful defense and having to throw A LOT, that he would have 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Wikipedia goes on to explain that Culpepper had an amazing year in 2004, but then steadily declined never lived up to his potential. I would refer to that as aging and having to deal with Randy Moss, but if you want to attribute that to a game cover, by all means…

Madden 2003. Marshall Faulk. Yes, after appearing on the Madden Cover, Faulk never rushed for over 1000 yards. He rushed for 953. And yes he got hurt and then subsequently retired. The Rams also drafted a running back named Steven Jackson in 2004, which might have something to do with the decreased production from Faulk. I also fail to believe his injury and his retirement is because of the cover. From 2000 to 2003 Faulk did not play a full season. (Note: 2000 is before he was on the cover). Also, Faulk was 29 when he was on the coverage and 31 when he last played in the NFL. I don’t think it’s a curse that a 31 year old, after taking a beating for years got injured and couldn’t return; I think that’s called the NFL.

Madden 2004. Michael Vick. I didn’t look into this one at all. As Vick has since shown, he had other things going on in his life at the time. And he doesn’t deserve my time.

Madden 2005. Ray Lewis. Wow, following his cover appearance, Lewis got injured in week 15. WEEK 15!!!!!  And he didn’t have an interception that year. He did however recover 2 fumbles and record over 100 tackles. Not too shabby. Also, despite his amazing playing ability, Lewis isn’t really an interception guy. In his career he had 2 seasons with 0 interceptions, 3 seasons with only 1 and 6 seasons with 2. The three seasons prior to being on the cover Lewis failed to play all 16 games each year, wonder what curse caused those injuries?

Madden 2006. Donovan McNabb. Yes, McNabb got hurt and missed time the season following his Madden cover. Shocker. Out of his 12 seasons in the NFL, McNabb has only played 4 complete seasons. 4. I rest my case on this one.

Madden 2007. Shaun Alexander. Wikipedia claims that after Alexander was on the Madden cover he “never returned to true form.” He was 29. The year that preceded and earned Alexander the cover was an amazing, lights out, season for him. He rushed for over 1800 yards and carried the ball 370 times; that is not true form, that is a freakishly good season. Following that great season, the Seahawks lost their all-pro guard, weakening their line dramatically. But that can’t be the reason for less yards…oh no. Yes, Alexander broke his foot. As Packers fans, I guess we can’t think of a single running back that has broken their foot without having the Madden cover involved. Alexander played on that broken foot and ran for over 200 yards in one game (against the Pack, remember?). He also broke Barry Sanders's record for most consecutive games with over a rush of 10 yards or more. While the injury did slow him down, I’m guessing that after turning 30 carrying a heavy workload also contributed to his decline.

Madden 2008. Vince Young. Most people know how I feel about this kid. He’s a mess. I’m not going to attribute any issue that he might have had to a video game. He has issues, simple as that.

Madden 2009. Ah, Brett Favre. Guess what people? The year after he was on the cover he led the league in interceptions! I for one have never ever seen Favre throw a lot of interceptions. Ever. Must have been the cover.

Madden 2010. Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. The season after their joint appearance, Larry Fitzgerald had a career high 13 touchdowns season. He did however sustain an injury that caused him to miss serious playing time…in the Pro Bowl. Polamalu did miss actual playing time that year, playing in only 5 games. But again, not a big surprise. In 2006, he played 13 games. In 2007, he played 11. In 2010 he played 14. No covers those years.

I get superstitions and how important of a role they play for some people and sports. And if even after reading this you still don’t want to vote for Aaron Rodgers to be on the Madden Cover, by all means, don’t. But if he does end up on the cover, I hope these words and facts will help calm the panic that will wash over you for the season.

Say it with me, There is NO Madden Curse.