The cover of Madden 2011 will feature New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. This is the first time the cover athlete was selected by fans, which makes you wonder which city voted the most. There is equal honor and terror in being named for a Madden NFL cover. One’s image does get onto a very popular video game. However, it also carries with it the Madden Curse. If you got royalties from it, that would mean some payday cash for certain.
Fans picked Drew Brees for the first Madden 2011 cover decided by vote
The pick for the cover of Madden 2011 was the first time ever that fans got to vote, and they picked Saints quarterback Drew Brees. He did get Super Bowl MVP. Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen and Indianapolis running back Reggie Wayne were close contenders. Did Indianapolis fans rig the voting?
The Madden Curse
There is the Madden Curse to contend with. Though correlation doesn’t prove causality, if an athlete gets on the cover of Madden Football, they supposedly will get hurt. Shaun Alexander suffered injuries and his career declined after being on the cover. The 2008 season saw Vince Young on the cover, during which he was injured and didn’t start the rest of the season. In 2009, Brett Favre tore his biceps and his season went down the tubes. Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu were on Madden 2010 and both had seasons curtailed by injury. Is it possible Colts fans used short term loans to bribe EA to get Brees on the cover to curse him to injury in retribution for the Super Bowl loss they suffered at his hands?
Drew Brees sounds off
Drew Brees recently talked with BusinessWeek about his cover of the game. He has asked, tongue firmly in cheek, for any practitioners of voodoo in New Orleans to put a curse on the curse. “If they’re Saints fans, then maybe they’ll put a copy in the freezer or something.” The series is one of probably the most popular in video game history. EA, or rather Electric Arts, has been making it given that 1989. Madden 2011 will be the 24th installment of the video game. From a Q and A with USA Today, Drew Brees is certainly proud, but doesn’t want everyone reminding Jared Allen before the next Vikings Saints game.
Resources for the article
BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-22/saints-brees-wants-new-orleans-to-put-own-curse-on-madden-jinx.html
USA Today
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/04/qa-new-orleans-saints-drew-brees/1
