The Curse

So we all saw that sick interception by Troy Polamalu last night and thought - "he's the best defensive back in football" - right. Well, the down side of becoming a star is that you get put on the cover of Madden. Although there are certain benefits that come with this (i.e. - fame, money, fame, money & women) there is always the realistic expectation that you will be injured or play terribly the next year. Here's a quick list of what happens the year after you make the Madden Cover. 2001: Eddie George - No injury but his career tailspinned into notingness. 2002: Daunte Culpepper - Missed five games and began his long trip out of Minnesota to wonder in the wilderness of back-up quarterback land forever. 2003: Marshall Fault - Missed six games, the greatest show on turf began to move on with out him. He never ran for 1,000 yards again. 2004: Ron Mexico a.k.a. Mike Vick - Broke his leg in the Preseason, missed 11 games and took up dog fighting with all the time off. 2005: Ray Lewis - Only missed one game but had to face the Kyle Boller era in Baltimore. 2006: Donovan McNabb - Missed final seven games of the season and had T.O. to deal with. 2007: Shaun Alexander - Missed six games with a broken foot and never was able to find work again. 2008: Vince Young - Missed one game, his mother called the cops thinking he had killed himself and lost his job for good to Kerry Collins. 2009: Bret Favre - Retired, Unretired, tried to force Aaron Rogers out of his old job and ended up missing the playoffs with the Jets. Then retired and unretired again. 2010: Troy Polamalu - Out 3-6 weeks with a knee injury in the opening game of the season. Like I say, Fear the Madden Curse. Too bad for those of you who drafted Larry Fitz on your fantasy team.