The Madden Curse

A few weeks back I wrote a blog about superstitions and athletes. This blog is going to be a follow up to that blog. I have done some research and found some pretty interesting superstitions and not just with NFL players. One of the most famous superstitions associated with the NFL is “The Madden Curse”. John Madden is a former NFL player, coach, and commentator before retiring in April of 2009. You may recognize his name from the popular video game Madden NFL where gamers take control as their favorite NFL team and play against others. Madden has been around for over twenty years and it was in 1999 when the cover of the game featured a professional NFL player. This is when the curse began.

The Madden Curse is a speculation in which any player who graces the cover of the game will be cursed to either injury or poor performance. In an interview, Chris Erb of EA Sports which makes Madden NFL stated that “The players don’t believe in the curse”. Personally, I think the outcome is far than coincidental and if I were an NFL player, I would be a little skeptical. I will let you read and decide for yourself. (Keep in mind that the game is released the year before it’s named. I.E. Madden 08 was released in the year 2007 and associated with the 2007 season.)

Madden 99 – The player was Garrison Hearst, a running back for the San Francisco 49ers during that time. Hearst had his greatest season in 1998 finishing third in rushing yards and became the first 49er to reach 1,000 yards in one season since 1992. He had more touchdowns that season than in his entire pro career. However, during a divisional playoff game against Atlanta, Hearst suffered a broken ankle which caused him to miss two full NFL season.

Madden 00 – The player was Barry Sanders, a running back for the Detroit Lions. Barry Sanders wasn’t injured during the season but in 1999 Sanders abruptly announced his retirement. He had just resigned with the Lions two years prior with a six year contract and controversy struck when he refused to return the unearned money after the Lions demanded it back. Sanders was eventually sued and lost.

Madden 01 – The player was Eddie George, a running back for the then Tennessee Titans. Tennessee had won the Superbowl in 2000 and was on their way to doing it again. During a divisional playoff game in 2001, George bobbled a pass which was intercepted and ran back for a touchdown by the Baltimore Ravens. The Titans ended up losing the game and Baltimore went on to become the Superbowl Champions.

Madden 02 – The player was Dante Culpepper, a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings at the time. During the 2001 season, Culpepper’s career started going downhill when he threw 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions leaving the Vikings with a 5-11 record. He missed the last five games of the season due to a knee injury suffered during a game. The season before, Culpepper had taken the Vikings all the way to the playoffs.

Madden 03 – The player was Marshall Faulk, a running back for the St. Louis Rams at the time. Faulk had four consecutive seasons of over 1,000 yards until 2002 when he missed the 1,000 mark by 430 yards. Needless to say, he just had a bad season.

Madden 04 – The player was Michael Vick, a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. Interestingly, his participation in dog fighting and the charges he faced weren’t part of the curse. Vick suffered a broken leg which caused him to miss the first 11 games of the season.

Madden 05 – The player was Ray Lewis, a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. For the most part, Lewis avoided the curse however, it was the first time in his career that he didn’t record an interception and he had missed a game. All his stats were down compared to previous seasons.

Madden 06 – The player was Donovan McNabb, a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. After taking the Eagles to the Superbowl, McNabb suffered a hernia in game one of the 2005 season. McNabb came back but so did the hernia and he missed seven games. The Eagles finished with a 7-10 record.

Madden 07 – The player was Shaun Alexander, a running back for the Seattle Seahawks. Alexander had won the MVP trophy and was in the Superbowl. The following season he broke his foot and missed six games. He recorded the lowest stats of his career since his rookie season.

Madden 08 – The player was Vince Young, a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Young started off his career well with the Titans. Two years later his touchdown to interception ration was 2 to 1 and only completed 62% of his passes. He suffered a couple injuries and was taken out of the game and replaced by Kerry Collins. Vince Young wasn’t put back into the game until week seven of this season.

*There is an “alternate” to the 08 cover for the Spanish version. Luis Castillo, a defensive end for the San Diego Chargers, missed six games due to an injured ankle. Some say steroids were the cause of the injury.

Madden 09 – The player was Brett Favre, a quarterback for the New York Jets at the time after coming out of retirement. Favre was supposed to be the savior to the Jets and it looked good in the beginning of the season. The Jets started with an 8-3 record but finished the season 9-7. Favre admitted he had suffered an injury to his throwing arm.

Madden 10 – The newest version of Madden was released for the first time with two players gracing the cover. Troy Polamalu, a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Larry Fitzgerald, a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the Superbowl Champions and opened the 2009 season with the Thursday night game against the Tennessee Titans. During the first half, Polamalu suffered a torn MCL injury that took him out for the next four games. He returned in week six only to get injured again with a torn ACL in week ten. Polamalu will be out for at least another four weeks. Larry Fitzgerald played in the Superbowl last year against the Steelers and Polamalu. He had an outstanding season and is so far, so good.

Now maybe you can decide for yourself if it’s a coincidence or curse. Athletes, especially NFL players, are prone to injury so maybe it’s just a matter of the media only focusing on the ones who have been on the cover of the game. Or maybe it's a connection between reaching your peak and having no where to go but down. I guess there is no true way to tell!

Below is a list of some other interesting superstitions I found:

WR Plaxico Burress, NY Giants eats grilled salmon and white rice every Saturday night before a game.

S Marcus Coleman, Dallas eats a chicken Caesar sandwich before every game and has to be the last player on the bus.

RB Ahman Green, Green Bay watches the film “Pure Payton” on the eve of every game.

QB Rex Grossman, Chicago takes a shower after warming up on the field prior to a game.

T Daniel Loper, Tennessee puts his equipment on left to right in game order for every practice and game.

DE Jason Taylor, Miami does everything from right to left.

RB Moran Norris, San Francisco does not walk under the cross bars before games.

FB Mike Sellers, Washington does not eat before a game, even if it’s a night game.

CB Charles Tillman, Chicago has the same person stretch him and tape him.

K Lawrence Tynes, Kansas City washes his car before every home game.

DE John Henderson, Jacksonville gets slapped before each game by assistant trainer Joe Sheehan.

References
Pearson, Greg. (2007). "Chapter, verson on the curse." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (journalsentinel.com. Retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/29367709.html

(2009). "The John Madden Football Curse." Fantom 1979. Retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://fantom1979.homeip.net/madden.html.

The Shark Pool (NFL TALK). (2003). Bri. Retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=258447

The Madden Curse. (2009). "The Madden Curse Strike in 2009/Starts in Cover Order with Polamalu." Retrieved on November 24, 2009, from http://www.themaddencurse.com/2009/09/the-madden-curse-strikes-in-2009-starts-in-cover-order-with-polamalu/

In Recent News...

Monday night football is usually supposed to be a big deal or a big game. This past Monday was a very boring match-up between Baltimore (now 5-4) against Cleveland (now 1-8). Unless you're a fan of one of these two teams, you may have found yourself searching for something else to watch. This happened to be the first game all season where there wasn't a single point scored in the entire first half. Baltimore had the chance to put up three points, but kicker Steve Hauschka missed a 36-yard field goal.

As a result to Monday nights game, the Ravens owner Ozzie Newsome decided to cut Hauschka from the team. "We entered the season knowing that we would have to go through some growing pains with Steve," Newsome said in a statement. "That happens with most new kickers in the NFL. But, for where we are as a team today, we need more consistent production from our kicker. Every one of our players has to step up to a Ravens' level of play and that was not happening for Steve right now." The Ravens had cut their All-Star kicker Matt Stover last season because they wanted only one kicker on the roster and someone younger. Stover now plays for the Colts and is 6 for 6 this season where Hauschka was 9 for 13. Hauschka had also missed another short range field goal that could have been game winning against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.

The Ravens have signed former Dallas Cowboys kicker Billy Cundiff. He was 66 for 89 in field goal attempts during the 2002-2005 seasons. Hopefully he can help the Ravens push through their next three weeks as they face difficult opponents including their ex-kicker Stover's new team, the undefeated Indianapolis Colts.


References Cited
Hensley, Jamison and Edward Lee. (2009) "Ravens cut kicker Hauschka." The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 19th, 2009, from http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bal-steve-hauschka-1117,0,7710459.story

Brett Favre, Enough Said

Brett Favre is a well-known quarterback to fans of the NFL and possibly even to people who know nothing about the sport. He was the starter for the Green Bay Packers for fifteen years starting back in 1992. From there he retired but after negotiations, and a long controversial debate in resigning with the Packers, decided to come out of retirement for the 2008 season and sign with the New York Jets. He holds numerous NFL records including most career touchdown passes, most career passing yards, most career pass completions, most career starts, and most career victories as starting quarterback. That sounds pretty impressive to the average Joe but for me, Brett Favre is one of the most overrated quarterbacks in the NFL.

One thing to notice when you are reviewing the records Favre has set is the word “career”. He has outranked even the most successful quarterbacks of all time but that’s because he has the longest starting streak. The majority of his records are all based on the fact that he has been playing as a starter for so many consecutive years. I believe that there are many players out there who could top all of Favre’s records if given the same amount of years. And I wasn’t going to go here but I think I will: Brett Favre also holds the record for most interceptions. For the people who are unfamiliar with football, that is not a good thing!

To be clear, I am not downing Favre as an athlete but I am saying that the publicity he receives is more than deserved and selfish on his part. Favre did have some wonderful achievements during his career and does have a Super Bowl Championship. However, much of his publicity is based on his juvenile acts the past couple of seasons and he doesn’t have much to show that he truly is “the greatest quarterback of all time”.

Brett Favre came out of retirement for the second time right before the playoffs of the 2009 season and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have been playing very well as I will bitterly admit. Favre is having a great season and there is no telling where the Vikings would be without him. Although, I do believe that the only reason why Favre chose to sign with them was so he could have his revenge against the Green Bay Packers. It was these kinds of selfish acts that made me form an opinion about Favre and not a good one.

Football 101

It has been brought to my attention that there are many people out there who don’t know much about football and I would like to apologize. I just assume that everyone knows the sport and I am sure some of my blogs are not making sense to the ones who aren’t familiar with the basics. I am going to provide a brief rundown of the definition of football, how the sport is played, and descriptions of the games positions. The intention of this blog is to allow a better understanding about the game.

In order to expand on the game of football, one must understand the definition first. In my own words, the definition of football is a game played between two teams on a rectangular field consisting of goal posts on each end whose object is to get a ball over the goal line by passing, running or kicking. In American football, we have a National Football League (NFL) which consists of two conferences: The American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Based on the link, each conference is broken into four divisions consisting of four different teams. Each team is divided into three separate units called the offense, defense, and special teams.

Second, one must understand how the game is played. Football is played on a field consisting of 100 yards. The object is for the offense to get the ball from one end of the field to the other in the end zone. Each team is given four attempts to gain ten yards per turn. The purpose of the defense is to try to stop the offense from gaining the full ten yards. Usually, by the fourth turn, if the offense is unable to advance the ten yards, they are forced to kick the ball to the opponent. When a team reaches the end zone they are considered to have scored what is known as a touchdown. Scoring a touchdown gives the team six points and the opportunity to kick a field goal for an extra point or gain two with a two point conversion. If the team is unable to reach the end zone and is close enough to the goal line they can opt for a field goal. Here the kicker attempts to kick the ball between the goal posts from the position the ball was carried to last. If made, the team receives three points. The game continues on for four quarters consisting of fifteen minutes. If there is a tie at the end of the game then another quarter is added and the first team to score wins.

Lastly, below is a list and description of all the positions played in football.


OFFENSE
Quarterback(QB) – generally positioned to take the snap. This person calls the plays and then preceding the snap can pass the ball down field, hand the ball to a running back, or personally run the ball himself.
Running back(RB) - tries to advance the ball by carrying it on plays from the line of scrimmage
Full back(FB) - whose position is behind the quarterback and halfbacks and who primarily performs offensive blocking and line plunges
Wide Receiver(WR) - the key player in most of the passing plays. A player eligible to receive a pass who usually takes a position on or near the line of scrimmage, but at some distance from the other members.
Tight End(TE) - an offensive end who lines up close to the tackle
Offensive Tackle(OT) – their job is to physically keep defenders away from the offensive player who has the football.
Offensive Guard(OG) - protect quarterback from the incoming defensive line and linebackers during pass plays.
Center(C) – passes the ball to the quarterback.

DEFENSE
Defensive end(DE) – used to block offensive players by trying to not let them get to the outside of the field.
Defensive Tackle(DT) – can be used for many roles. Main purpose is to block the offensive line from advancing. Typically the largest and strongest.
Nose Guard(NG) – Defensive player that lines up directly with the Center.
Linebacker(LB) – generally line up behind the line of scrimmage. (the imaginary line where a play is started.)
Cornerback(CB) – used to cover the receivers of the offensive line
Safety(SS) – line up ten to fifteen yards behind the line of scrimmage and their duty depends on the defensive scheme.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker – kicks field goals, extra points, and sometimes kickoffs.
Holder – the player who receives the snap before a field goal and holds the ball for the kicker.
Punter – this player kicks the ball to the receiving team after they are unable to advance the ten yards.
Long Snapper – Like the center, this player snaps the ball to the kicker or holder.
Kick Returner – catches the ball after a kickoff and attempts to run as far as he can before getting tackled.
Gunner – specializes in running quickly down the sideline to try to tackle the kick returner or punter.

Now that you have a general definition, a short explanation on how the game is played, and information on the positions, my future and previous blogs will hopefully be easier for you to follow and spark your interest. There exists more information and rules that go along with this sport; however, my objective was to offer some basic knowledge of this popular game we know as football.

Superstitions and Ridiculous Excuses

While watching the Monday night game I was trying to focus on what the commentators say. Usually I just try to tune them out but one topic caught my attention. They kept mentioning the mouth pieces being worn by the Saints. I didn’t notice anything “special” about them but it definitely caught the eyes of the announcers. They were making comments about the mouth pieces bringing luck to the Saints and that is why they have been playing so well. I started to question if these superstitions really do exist. I know they sound really silly but I believe these types of superstitions can be highly motivational to athletes. How far does it go though? Are players not washing their uniforms or not cutting their hair? Is that why Kyle Orton has that ridiculous mustache? This kind of attention now has me doing research to see if any and which NFL athletes believe in these “good luck charms” and what they are.

With that said, what happens when the team loses? I was listening to the radio and they were talking about the Giants/Eagles game. The Eagles completely ran all over Eli Manning and dominated for a 40-17 victory. Eli had sustained an injury to his foot but has been playing through the pain. The radio personnel were using this injury as an excuse for the younger Manning brother. The last time I checked however, you didn’t need your foot to throw three interceptions. If his foot is bothering him that badly, then the coach should take him out. It is starting to become embarrassing.

Half way through, who is still on top?

Week 8 is over and we have now approached the half way point of the NFL season. Going into the weekend, three teams were fighting to keep they’re undefeated winning streak. Who was able to hold on?

The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints battled it out as both teams came close to being handed their first loss. The Colts were up against the improved San Francisco 49ers and barely pushed through a 14 – 18 victory. It was not a good day for three-time MVP Peyton Manning, forcing the coach to put Joseph Addai to throw the game winning touchdown. The Saints were able to get the win but not without Atlanta putting up a fight. It was two years pro quarterback battling one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, Matt Ryan’s end of the game Hail Mary met the hands of Saints Darren Sharper giving him his seventh interception of the season.

The undefeated upset of the weekend, however, was the Denver Broncos at Baltimore. Both teams were coming off the bye week and Baltimore looking for redemption. The Denver Broncos have come a long way since they’re 8-8 record last season and still have some pretty tough teams to get through. New head coach, Josh McDaniels, has done wonders with this team but there is still a lot of room for improvement. I wonder what was going through his mind on the opening drive when Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson sacked QB Kyle Orton for the first play of the game. You can see what Orton had to say about it at ESPN.

The Broncos will be facing returning Superbowl Champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the Steelers coming off their bye week, the Broncos need to really step up their game if they want to add another win. With both these teams having a dominant defense, this could turn out to be an interesting, creative play calling game!