After setting career-highs in almost every statistical category, Christian McCaffrey has been announced as the official EA Sports Madden 25 cover. In his eighth season in the NFL, McCaffrey rushed for 1,459 yards, (5.4 yards per carry) and had 21 total touchdowns.
Niners fans realizing the Madden Curse is coming for them pic.twitter.com/utP9eNqhM6
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) June 11, 2024
After hearing the news of CMC's cover announcement, the first thing that comes to mind for many fans is the "Madden curse."
For those who don't know, there has been a long-time superstition that apparently the player who is put on the cover of the EA Sports video game always seems to have a bad season the year after they are chosen.
CBS sports did an analysis on each of the Madden cover athletes from 2000-2024, and found that more than half (13.5 of the 24 cover athletes) had a noticeably bad year or were "cursed" after being chosen to grace the front of the infamous football video game.
When looking at previous players, some examples of names that seemingly fell victim to the "Madden curse" include Shaun Alexander, Vince Young, and Peyton Hillis.
To point out, Seattle Seahawks running back Alexander was the cover of Madden 07 after rushing for 1,000 yards for five straight seasons. Yet, then during his cover season, Alexander's rushing yards total went from 1,880 to 896, and ever since he was never the same, as he went on to retire a few seasons later.
Then to highlight another notable name, Tennessee Titans quarterback Young was on the cover of Madden 08 after being named an Offensive Rookie of the Year to start his career. However, during his cover year he looked like a totally different player, going on to throw 17 interceptions and only nine touchdowns, that is to say, Young was then benched the rest of the season.
Cleveland Browns player Hillis was the last running back to be on the cover of Madden. After rushing for 1,000 yards during his breakout 2010 season, he earned the honor of being on the front of Madden 12. Unfortunately, during his cover year the next season, Hillis missed six games due to injury, and only averaged 3.6 yards per carry.
These are just a few examples of players that had a huge drop off after being on the cover of Madden. Time will tell how McCaffrey's season will go, yet fans will be excited to once again be using the star running back on next year's version of Madden.
Related: Peyton Hillis, The Face Of Madden NFL 12, In Critical Condition After Drowning Incident
