San Francisco 49ers' RB Christian McCaffrey is the first player in franchise history to grace the cover of a Madden NFL video game, and as always fans wonder if he'll be affected by the dreaded Madden cover curse like players before him. The 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year might be in danger of having a bad year. However, recent evidence suggests that also might not be the case. Therefore, let's take a brief look at the Madden Curse before looking at our Madden 25 cover star.

What Is The Madden Cover Curse? A Brief History

Since Madden 96, the EA Sports Madden NFL games have featured one or more NFL players on the cover. However, some of those players who went to appear on the cover would go on to experience a “bad” or “misfortunate” season that year. This is what is commonly referred to as the Madden Curse. But does it really affect every player? And how seriously should we take it?

For reference, the first ever players to appear on an EA Sports Madden cover were Panthers' Carey Brabham and Jaguars' Gordon Laro. Overall, Laro only appeared in two games for the Jaguars, while Brabham wasn't even on the team when the game released.

Let's take a look at the Madden Curse since 2000 to check its accuracy:

  • Madden 2001 – Tennessee Titans' RB Eddie George
    • During the 2000 season, George led the league in rushing attempts (403), earning 1,509 yards and 14 touchdowns. Furthermore, he caught 50 passes (a career-high), with 453 receiving yards and two more touchdowns
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden 2002 – Minnesota Vikings' QB Daunte Culpepper
    • 2001 Season: Culpepper struggled during the 2001 season, scoring only 14 touchdowns while throwing 13 interceptions in 11 games. Additionally, he missed the last five games due to injury. Overall, Culpepper did enjoy some better seasons later on, but he ultimately struggled throughout his career.
    • Verdict: The Madden Curse Prevails!
  • Madden 2003 – St. Louis Rams RB Marshall Faulk
    • 2002 Season: Culpepper's 2002 season wasn't as explosive as previous years, but you have to understand the man just came off three straight HOF level seasons. He still made the Pro Bowl, earned nearly 1,500 yards from scrimmage, and scored 10 total touchdowns. While the Rams missed the playoffs that year, I really don't think Faulk could be to blame. At that point, he was a vet entering his ninth season, and it makes sense he wasn't as explosive.
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden 2004 – Atlanta Falcons' QB Michael Vick
    • 2003 Season: Michael Vick missed most of the season due to a leg injury. He returned later in the year, scoring only five touchdowns in four starts.
    • Verdict: The Madden Curse prevails!
  • Madden 2005 – Baltimore Ravens' LB Ray Lewis
    • 2004 Season: Lewis earned his fifth First-Team All-Pro nod in another successful season. Although he wasn't able to catch a single interception, as opposed to the six he caught the year before, his 147 combined tackles show us that the curse had no effect on him
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden 2006 – Philadelphia Eagles' QB Donovan McNabb
    • 2005 Season – McNabb only appeared in nine games, garnering an ugly 4-5 record along the way. Just one season separated from his Super Bowl appearance, McNabb and the Eagles suffered a major collapse in 2005.
    • Verdict: The Madden curse Prevails!
  • Madden 2007 – Seattle Seahawks' RB Shaun Alexander
    • 2006 Season – Alexander only appeared in 10 games and averaged only 3.6 yards per carry. The year before, he earned over 1,800 rushing yards while scoring 27 touchdowns.
    • Verdict: The Madden Curse prevails!
  • Madden 2008 – Tennessee Titans' QB Vince Young
    • 2007 Season – Young played the worst football of his career, scoring only nine touchdowns while throwing 17 interceptions across 15 starts. The third overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft simply did not live up to expectations
    • Verdict: The Madden curse Prevails!
  • Madden 2009 – Green Bay Packers / New York Jets' QB Brett Favre
    • 2008 Season – In his first and only season with the Jets, Favre threw 22 interceptions to match his 22 touchdowns. The Jets actually started the year strong, going 8-3 and beating the undefeated Titans. However, the team experienced a collapse, going 1-4 in the last five games.
    • Verdict: The Madden curse Prevails!
  • Madden NFL 10 – Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Polamalu and Arizona Cardinals' WR Larry Fitzgerald
    • 2009 Season – Polamulu missed significant time due to injury, only playing five games in the 2009 season. However, Larry Fitzgerald recorded his fourth 1,000 yard season at the time, while leading the league in receiving touchdowns (13).
    • Verdict: Tie
  • Madden NFL 11 – New Orleans Saints' QB Drew Brees
    • 2010 Season – Brees did throw a career-high 22 interceptions this season. However, the Saints still managed to make the playoffs. Furthermore, Brees threw for over 4,500 yards while leading the league once again in completion percentage
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 12 – Cleveland Browns' RB/FB Peyton Hillis
    • 2011 Season – Hillis was never able to recapture his 2010 season, and in 2011, he missed time due to injury. However, he still manage to earn over 700 yards from scrimmage in nine starts, which is actually pretty solid. However, it's not good enough for a Madden cover
    • Verdict: The Madden curse Prevails!
  • Madden NFL 13 – Detroit Lions' WR Calvin Johnson
    • 2012 Season: Johnson broke the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season (1,964). He also led the league in catches with 122. Overall, he enjoyed the best season of his career
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 25 (2013) – Barry Sanders
    • N/A
  • Madden NFL 15 – Seattle Seahawks' CB Richard Sherman
    • 2014 Season: Sherman earned his second Pro Bowl nod as he played another fine season. The Legion of Boom continued to plague QBs all over the league. BUT IF ONLY THEY GAVE THE BALL TO MARSHA-
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 16 – New York Giants' WR Odell Beckham Jr.
    • 2015 Season: Beckham Jr. experienced the best season of his career, earning 1,450 receiving yards along with thirteen touchdown (both career-highs).
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 17 – New England Patriots' TE Rob Gronkowski
    • 2016 Season: Gronk dealt with injuries for most of the season, only starting six total games. Nevertheless, he managed to earn 540 receiving yards while earning a career-high 21.6 yards per catch. Nevertheless, he wasn't able to play in the Patriots' special 28-3 comeback.
    • Verdict: The Madden Curse Prevails (… but the Patriots still won the SB)
  • Madden NFL 18 – New England Patriots' QB Tom Brady
    • 2017 Season: Brady earned his third career MVP nod as he played another stellar year. Although Nick Foles saved the world from the Patriots dynasty from winning another Super Bowl, Brady still played like no other. He's the greatest of all time for a reason.
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 19 – Pittsburgh Steelers' WR Antonio Brown
    • 2018 Season – Brown led the league in receiving touchdowns (15) and earned over 1,200 receiving yards. Although his yardage numbers were smaller than previous seasons, he played phenomenally.
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 20 – Kansas City Chiefs' QB Patrick Mahomes
    • 2019 Season: Mahomes won his first Super Bowl ring after a strong 2019 season. He did throw 24 less touchdowns than the previous year, and did miss a couple of games. Nevertheless, Patrick Mahomes enjoyed perhaps the best year for any Super Bowl cover athlete ever.
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 21 – Baltimore Ravens' QB Lamar Jackson
    • 2020 Season – The 2019 MVP continued to ball out in 2020, scoring 33 total touchdowns throughout the year. While his stats were technically worse in almost every way, Jackson still helped the team win 11 games and make the postseason, where he won his first playoff game. So it was a pretty successful year.
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 22 – Tampa Bay Buccaaneers' QB Tom Brady and Kansas City Chiefs' QB Patrick Mahomes
    • 2021 Season – Brady led the league in pass completions, pass attempts, passing touchdowns, and passing yards in 2021. The Buccaneers advanced to the playoffs once again, but lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champions, The Rams, 30-27. Mahomes put up another stellar year, earning 39 total touchdowns and over 5,000 yards from scrimmage
    • Verdict: No Effect
  • Madden NFL 23 – John Madden
    • N/A
  • Madden NFL 24 – Buffalo Bills' QB Josh Allen
    • 2023 Season: Allen threw a career-high 19 interceptions while throwing less than 30 touchdowns for the first time since 2019. But, he also tied an NFL record 15 rushing touchdowns and earned over 4,800 yards from scrimmage. The Bills made the playoffs and advanced to the divisional round, so it wasn't a completely bad season for Allen
    • Verdict: No Effect

If we tally up our totals, here's what we end up with:

  • 13 – No Effect
  • 8 – Madden Curse Prevails
  • 1 – Tie
  • 2 – N/A

Overall, it seems the Madden Curse hasn't effected a player since maybe Rob Gronkowski in Madden 17. But even then, the Patriots managed to win the Super Bowl. So, how will the Madden Cover Curse affect Madden 25 cover star Christian McCaffrey?

Will The Madden Cover Curse Affect Madden 25 Cover Athlete Christian McCaffrey?

In terms of skill as a player, there's no reason to believe the Madden cover curse will have an impact on Christian McCaffrey. He's one of, if not, the best RB in the league, with superstar talent as a runner and receiver. However, our major concern is focused on McCaffrey's health, rather than his skill.

Christian McCaffrey touched the ball 339 times last year in the regular season alone (272 runs, 67 catches). Furthermore, he added another 78 touches in the postseason, increasing his total to 417 touches in 2023-2024. That's a pretty big workload for any player, especially one who's dealt with some pretty serious injuries in the past. Thankfully, since joining the 49ers in 2022, McCaffrey has fortunately been healthy.

Another concern is the actual performance of the team itself. McCaffrey might play well, but what about Brock Purdy in Year 3? Is Brandon Aiyuk staying with the team? Will George Kittle remember to keep his eyes on the ball instead of talking to other players? Jokes aside, there's always a concern that the NFC Champs might have a bad year.

But all that said, Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers are still poised for success. They have several amazing players on both sides of the ball, and Kyle Shanahan is a good head coach (though he leaves a lot to be desired in the Super Bowl department). Furthermore, we don't know how competitive the Rams, Seahawks, and Cardinals will be this year. Therefore, we believe McCaffrey and the 49ers should enjoy another successful year.

So, no, we don't believe the Madden curse will affect Christian McCaffrey.

Overall, that wraps up our thoughts on Christian McCaffrey and the Madden Cover Curse. Check out his reaction to gracing the Madden 25 cover. Furthermore, if you can't wait any longer for Football, check out some news on College Football 25.

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