Should Calvin Johnson Warn Detroit Lions About Madden Cover Curse?
The right player won the award but to say getting on the Madden cover is an honor is only half right. Any of the long lists of players that now include the Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson know that a curse follows it every year.
Johnson beats out Cam Newton for high NFL honor and great Lions boost
It's been too long since the Detroit Lions could boast a player from their roster was good enough for gracing anything other than the NFL waiver wire. The dynamic wide receiver Johnson beat out rookie quarterback Cam Newton. His 2011 season amounted to 96 catches, 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was the best player in the league and played all sixteen games. While Newton was a sensation in his first year by scoring a record 14 rushing touchdowns, he didn't need the cover as much as Detroit did. Aside from a playoff berth the Johnson honor is one of the few good pieces of publicity the team has gotten in a year marred by suspensions, penalties and controversy. So why are some Lions fans worried about their best player gracing the cover of the video game? Anyone who follows the Madden franchise may have heard of a popular legend that tells of a curse falling on whoever appears on the cover. Since 1999, sixteen players have appeared on the cover. In that time a run of unusual bad luck befell each player the year after they got selected.
Brett Favre and Michael Vick can attest to the curse first hand
Two names that fans know well have had a run-in with the curse. Back 2004, Michael Vick led the Atlanta Falcons to their first NFC championship appearance in six years. For that he graced the cover. During the preseason that same year he broke the fibula in his right leg. Atlanta spiraled to a 5-11 record and missed the playoffs long before Vick could return. Even a Hall of Fame player like Brett Favre can say the curse hit him too. His 2007 season with the Green Bay Packers was among his best. However that offseason he retired and then signed with the New York Jets. It looked like he would lead the Jets to the playoffs, but he tore the bicep in his throwing arm with just five games left. New York lost four of them on stumbled to a 9-7 finish. Whether somebody chooses to believe in the Madden curse or not doesn't matter. As scientists like to say, the evidence is pretty clear.
The Detroit Lions fan base should feel proud and happy for Calvin Johnson. Gracing the Madden cover is a clear sign their team has the best player in the NFL. Regardless, Cam Newton should feel fortunate. A long history of quarterbacks like Michael Vick and Brett Favre can agree that no matter how much people deny a curse exists, eyes will stay fixed on Johnson throughout the 2012 season to see if something happens.
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