In what could be good news or bad news depending on how superstitious you are, Lions WR Calvin Johnson has made it to the final four of the Madden 2012 cover voting.
Johnson now takes on Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers in the semifinals. Voting last from April 11th until April 18th. Vote here if you dare!
Johnson though wouldn’t be the only Lions affected by the infamous Madden cover jinx.
Barry Sanders was on the Madden 2000 cover ever so subtly behind Madden himself.
Even though Sanders didn’t suffer on the field because of the cover he did end up retiring by way of fax before the 1999 season.
Green Bay running back Dorsey Levens later graced the cover on a Madden 2000 re-release. After that Green Bay missed the playoffs, Levens suffered a knee injury and was never the same.
Here is a quick rundown on the other Madden cover jinx victims…
Eddie George (2001) – The Titans lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs when George bobbled a pass that was returned by the Ravens for a touchdown. After this he rushed for less than 1000 yards for the first time in his career and scored just 5 TDs. He never averaged better than 3.4 yards per carry in any successive season.
Daunte Culpepper (2002) – Culpepper threw 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions before hurting his knee in Week 13 and sitting out the rest of the season. The Vikings QB then threw a career-worst 23 INTs in the 2002 season and wound up having a disasterous career later in the decade including multiple knee injuries.
Marshall Faulk (2003) – After the greatest show on turf dominated the NFL in 2001 Faulk played in a career-low 11 games in 2003 and began having knee issues that would end his career for good in 2005.
Michael Vick (2004) – The jinx really started being discussed after Michael Vick broke his leg during a preseason game and didn’t return until five games left in the season. Oh yeah Vick also spent time in prison for drowning and electrocuting pit bulls on his property.
Ray Lewis (2005) – After dominating in 2003 the Ravens failed to make the playoffs in 2004. Lewis also missed the last game of the 2004 season with a wrist injury and played a career-low six games in 2005.
Donovan McNabb (2006) – McNabb led the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2004 but after that it was all down hill from there In 2005 McNabb suffered a sports hernia the first game of the season which subsequently ended after week 9. In 2006, McNabb tore his ACL and meniscus and played just 10 games.
Shaun Alexander (2007) – Alexander helped lead the Seahawks to the Super Bowl in 2005 and set an NFL record for touchdowns (28) that has since been broken. After this though Alexander fractured his foot in 2006 and ran for just 896 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games.
Vince Young (2008) – After a terrific rookie season, EA Sports went with Vince Young as their cover athlete. This turned out to be a dishonor for Young as his career went in the toilet after this. Young had nine TD passes and 17 interceptions in 2007. On the ground, Young rushed for 157 fewer yards, his Yards Per Carry dropped 1.5, and he scored just three rushing touchdowns after having seven his rookie year. Things would continually get worse from there on out.
Brett Favre (2009) – After being acquired by the Jets in 2008 things seemed to be going well for Favre which could’ve been the end of the jinx. However the Jets missed out on the playoffs after losing four of their final five games, in which Favre threw nine interceptions and only two touchdown passes, bringing his season total to 22 of each. It was later revealed Favre had been playing with a torn biceps tendon late in the season.
Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald (2010) – Perhaps EA Sports was trying to break the curse themselves by placing two players on the cover instead of one. Unfortunately this meant that two players instead of one would be jinxed. After appearing on the cover Polamalu only played in five games because of numerous knee injuries, and the Steelers did not make the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl. Fitzgerald on the other hand wasn’t affected by the curse until the playoffs rolled around where he suffered a rib injury and was sidelined for the rest of the year.
Drew Brees (2011): After appearing on the cover, Brees went on to have an excellent season the following year making it appear that the curse was over. This wasn’t the case as the Saints were stunned during Wild Card weekend by the Seattle Seahawks. Furthermore the Saints’ organization (which Brees is still apart of) was rocked by the bountygate.
