Buffalo Bills' quarterback Josh Allen was announced as the cover athlete of this year's Madden 24. He'll be the 23rd player to appear on the famed video game. As one of the top quarterbacks in the league, Allen will be looking to do something he has yet to do in the upcoming 2023 season, which is get past the divisional round of the playoffs. Allen and the Bills are likely to have a lot of expectations following them, along with a bit of skepticism. Allen being added to the Madden game alumni may have increased that skepticism.
Making plays is the name of the game 😤
Welcome to #Madden24 #EAathlete— Josh Allen (@JoshAllenQB) June 8, 2023
Hocus Pocus
It's just a bunch of hocus pocus. That's probably what Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes is saying about the so-called Madden Curse. The Madden curse, as most know, is a long-standing belief among football fans and gamers that appearing on the cover of Madden brings bad luck to the featured player in the following season. It gained attention and popularity after several cover athletes suffered injuries or experienced a decline in performance in the year following their appearance on the cover. However, in recent years, the curse seems to have been broken, namely with Mahomes.
What Madden curse?
Patrick Mahomes has defied every other form of logic thus far during his career, so breaking a video game curse really isn't out of his logistical realm. When he graced the cover of Madden 20, he went on to have a remarkable season in 2019-2020. Despite suffering a knee injury during the season — which led many to raise up pointing a la the Leonardo DiCaprio meme, saying, see, Madden curse — Mahomes led the Chiefs to three double-digit comebacks in the playoffs and ultimately won the Super Bowl, earning the Super Bowl MVP award. Mahomes not only broke the curse, but he also became the curse.
Mahomes went on to not only win another Super Bowl, but he did it while appearing with Tom Brady on the cover of last year's Madden 22 game. Brady and Mahomes have had the most success of all that have been on the cover.
Brady, who was on the Madden 18 cover, took the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl that season. Yet, they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.
So, Mahomes is not the only player to have had success after appearing on the Madden cover. Some have gone on to have productive seasons following the release of their covers. It's just that Mahomes did it in the best way possible, much like any good protagonist video game character would.
Mahomes broke the curse by completely separating himself from the rest of the league, therefore becoming one to others. As the games and the season's go on, he just keeps leveling up and unlocking features. He's athletically gifted beyond measure, doing things that other players in the game can't.
Mahomes is the curse-breaking, trend-setting superstar of the league for a reason. He continues to set the bar higher every season. Him overcoming virtual voodoo was just as much child's-play as his performances seem to be on the field.
Is it really broken?
Allen will be the first real test if the curse is indeed broken post Mahomes' second appearance. When Patrick Mahomes first appeared, it was Lamar Jackson who appeared the year after. While Jackson didn't have a bad season, he certainly didn't live up to the hype and ended the season statistically worse than the year prior.
But does Allen have an even a larger curse to overcome? Is he fighting the curse of Buffalo Bills football? The franchise that lost four consecutive Super Bowl's back in the 1990s. Regardless, it's time for Allen to level up.
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