Where Can I Bet the Madden Curse Online?
It's that time of year again as the latest installment of the popular Madden NFL game has just been released. For those of you who believe in the dreaded Madden Curse, it's bad news for both Bucs and Chiefs fans as those team's top stars, Tom Brady and Pat Mahomes, will appear together on this year's cover. BetOnline in the past has offered odds on the Madden Curse to those 18 and up and also features Madden simulations wagering.
The Madden Curse Explained
For years since the Madden NFL game debuted, those players appearing on the cover ultimately ended up suffering a series of mishaps that season.
The so-called "curse" was so widely believed that, starting with Madden NFL 11 EA, fans have been allowed to choose their favorite player for the cover and game developer EA quickly began to realize that many fans voted against their favorite player to avoid the "curse"
When asked about the Madden Curse, EA Sports' Chris Erb said, "I don't know that we believe in the curse. The players don't believe in the curse."
Yeah right.
Tell that to Rob Gronkowski. Playing for the Patriots they year he appeared on the cover in 2016, Gronkowski was sidelined most that season with hamstring and back injuries and a bruised lung.
One is Not Enough
EU doubled down in 2010 by featuring two players on its cover: Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald. The result: Both players suffered injuries that season.
Polamalu only played in five games for the Steelers due to numerous knee injuries.
Fitzgerald managed to ward off the "curse" for a time before suffering a rib injury that kept him out of the postseason.
Ending the Curse?
2013 appeared to be the end of the "curse", at least on the surface. Calvin Johnson had both a career and historic season the year he was on the cover. The only "curse" here was that Johnson accomplished all of this while playing for the dreadful Detroit Lions.
In 2015, the Seahawks Richard Sherman appeared on the cover. And while his interception total dropped and the Seahawks failed to repeat as Super Bowl champions, Sherman managed to avoid any serious calamities.....or so it seemed.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll would later reveal that the All Pro cornerback played much of 2016 through the pain of an MCL injury. Perhaps there was a slight delay in the "curse".
One can argue that the New York Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. managed to somehow break the "curse" the same year he appeared on the Madden NFL cover. He managed to piss a lot of folks off that season, leading to a one-game suspension.
In 2018, the likes of Tom Brady finally appeared to break the "curse"....Maybe. His team did lose to the Eagles in that year's Super Bowl.
This Year's Madden NFL Cover
We're not exactly off to a good start. ESPN reportedly accidentally leaked the Madden 22 front cover.
As LokiVibes on Reddit and many others discovered, the "Madden 22" cover could be seen in ESPN's app Wednesday night.
EA teased the cover of "Madden 22" by using two goats, which doesn't exactly take a brain scientist to decipher (Greatest Of All Time - GOAT).
This is just the second cover to feature dual athletes and, as mentioned above, the first one didn't turn out well for those who believe in the Madden Curse.
For anyone who questions the ethics of offering odds on potential adversities affecting players, consider that EA itself announced plans to develop a movie based on the Curse in 2010, a comedy no less. Those plans were later scrapped.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
