This Wednesday, it was confirmed that Caleb Williams is set to be the Madden 27 cover athlete. The news had already leaked on May 30th, with fans immediately commenting on the so-called “Madden curse”, by which players who are added to the video game cover are set to have terrible seasons or suffer season-ending injuries that define their careers.
Let’s analyze whether Williams has a good chance of breaking the curse, but first, let’s look at some of the top examples of the superstition.
Top 3 examples of the Madden curse
#3 Daunte Culpepper
Daunte Culpepper is the man who proved the Madden curse was real, being the second player to suffer from it. After 3937 passing yards, with 33 touchdowns in the 2000 season, the Vikings quarterback was selected to be the cover for the 2001 edition of the video game. In the end, he threw for 2612 yards with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He did recover a bit and had a couple of good seasons with the Vikings, but nothing major.
#2 Garrison Hearst
The origin of the story itself. Hearst had the best season of his career in 1998, with 1510 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. This earned him the first-ever standalone cover of the Madden series in the 99 edition. Then, during the playoffs of the 1998 season, he suffered a gruesome, horrific ankle break in the Divisional round. The injury cut blood flow to his bone and caused necrosis. He missed the entirety of 1999.
#1 Michael Vick
Possibly the most egregious examples of the Madden curse. Michael Vick was a cultural phenomenon when he was selected as the cover for Madden 2004. In the preseason of the 2003 campaign, five days after the video game came out, he suffered a season-ending injury in a preseason game. The Atlanta Falcons’ season was completely thrown off the rails. A few years later, Vick would go to prison for his participation in an illegal dog-fighting ring.
Could Caleb Williams overcome the Madden curse?
The curse has resurfaced in recent times, most famously with Christian McCaffrey’s injury-ridden 2024 season after being named the cover player for the 2025 edition of the game. He was coming fresh off winning the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award in 2023.
But this doesn’t mean it’s the end for Williams; beyond being a mere superstition, other players have already glided past it. Most famously, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. In 2017, Brady was named for the 2018 edition of the game’s cover. That year, he would win the MVP award. During the 2021 season, he was named to the cover of Madden 22, and that year, he led the entire NFL with a career-high 5,316 passing yards and 43 touchdowns.
Mahomes, for his part, was the cover player for Madden 20, which came out in 2019, the year he would win his first Super Bowl. He was also on the cover of Madden 22, alongside Brady, and had a successful 2021 season, reaching the AFC Championship.
Also Read: “One of the Worst Defenses”: Jim Schwartz Gets No Support From Fans as he Details Browns Exit
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in baseball, tennis, college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!
