Madden '09 Cover

For many throughout the world, the happiest place on earth is the intersection of Sports and Video Games. On a street corner crowded with games like NBA Jam, Tecmo Bowl, Cool Boarders II, or even Mario Baseball, EA Sports’ Madden Franchise has long been the standard to which all others are compared. Innovation in sports video game marketing and gameplay has been a result of the popularity of this game bearing the name of the Hall of Fame NFL head coach and announcer.

After years of having John Madden as the game’s coverboy, EA Sports decided to examine the opportunity to use prominent NFL players on the cover; initiating what’s now known as “the Madden curse”. Michael Vick’s “Madden ‘04″ cover and Shaun Alexander’s “Madden ‘07″ cover are two of the most famous instances, both sitting out the season because of injury, but there is a case made for the curse every year.  In 2001 Eddie George was featured and he (and the titans) “struggled” through his worst season up to that point.  2002’s cover had Donte Cullpepper on it and he took advantage of the added visibility by throwing 10 more interceptions than the year before.  Marshal Faulk began his statistical decline in 2003, rushing for 400 less yards than 2002, following his Madden cover debut.  And both Donovann McNabb and Ray Lewis (2006 and 2005) missed at least seven games due to injury the season after entering EA glory.

Well, it seems that the coverboy returned the favor this year! With the game set to hit store shelves on August 12, the trade of Favre to the New York Jets has EA scrambling to replace their now out of date covers featuring the QB in his legendary green and gold. What was billed as a first for the video game franchise (the featuring of a retired player on its cover) has now turned into a nightmare. In an effort to be on top of the situation, EA’s website already has screen shots of Brett Favre and his #4 jersey in his new Jets uniform.

This late breaking change of plans has the makings of a great sports collector’s item. There’s no telling how many copies of the cover have already been printed and collectors all over the globe will be fighting to get their hands on the original box.