With the end of the NFL season, Tom Brady managed to escape the so-called “Madden Curse”, which allegedly condemns to injure the players that appear on the cover of the traditional annual football series of Electronic Arts.
The first player to fall victim to the curse was the San Francisco 49ers running back, Garrison Hearst who, after appearing on the cover of Madden 99, broke his ankle and was only one of at least 10 cover players to suffer some sort of problem in the subsequent campaigns, including Ron Gronkowski of the New England Patriots, who graced the cover of Madden NFL 17, but ended up in the injury reserve with a serious back injury towards the end of the 2016- 2017
That said, the California native was not the first to avoid the curse, since the former Minnesota Vikings runner Adrian Peterson appeared on the cover of Madden 25 and that year he ran for 1,266 yards, while Eddie George, in the The same condition ran for 1,509 with 16 touchdowns and Calvin “Megatron” Johnson was very close to reaching 2,000 yards in receptions during the year he appeared on the game deck.
It should be noted, however, that Brady suffered a hand injury to launch a few weeks ago, which required dozens of stitches and whose scar was still visible last night; as part of a crucial play, the quarterback was unable to catch a pass thrown in his direction towards the middle of the match and, ultimately, added his third defeat in 8 appearances on the super Sunday. There will be plenty of people who want to see in it some indication of the curse.
Judging by tradition, EA should announce the next front-runner during the month of May, with a view to launching the next edition of Madden towards the end of August. With the amazing triumph of the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday, it would not be strange to see his quarterback, Nick Foles, appear on the cover. So players have enough time to get enough Madden NFL 18 coins, a fast way to get players in market.
A final detail to mention is that, with the result of last night, Madden also failed in his prediction because, according to the game, the New England Patriots would rise with the victory 24-20.