The Seahawks found out Monday that their reigning MVP running back Shaun Alexander will be out at least a few weeks with a cracked bone in his left foot.
This is big news for any number of reasons, but most importantly, lightning has struck for the eighth straight time.
Yes, the Madden curse has struck once again.
For those unfamiliar with the Madden curse, every year the Madden video game has a star player grace the cover of its game. And every single player gracing the cover has either gotten injured or had a sub-par year the following season.
Donovan McNabb appears on the cover, the next year he gets a sports hernia. Ray Lewis gets a broken wrist the next season. Michael Vick fractures his right fibula the day after the game is released. Marshall Faulk gets hurt, Eddie George fumbles away a playoff game, Daunte Culpepper injures his knee and Madden himself appears on the cover and develops telestrator tunnel syndrome. This is too much to just be a coincidence; it is a serious problem that Madden himself needs to fix, especially since it happened to Barry Sanders as well (he retired after being on the cover).
Madden deprived football fans of enjoying Lions games, something that has not happened in the last six years. Madden caused Emmitt Smith to enjoy the title of all-time best rusher, a title that should have been rightfully Barry's. Most of all, Madden caused the cessation of more Sanders highlights, which is every fan's favorite montage to watch. This alone should have caused Madden to end the madness, but he continued for six more years. There is a solution, however.
All he needs to do from now on is put great players that have already retired on the cover. Although that may result in another Dick Cheney hunting accident or a rough case of athlete's foot only cured by some tough actin' Tinactin, at least it would be off the football field. The Madden curse must be appeased. And who else would make a better candidate next year than Madden's personal man-crush, Brett Favre? The legend himself has said this season will likely be his last, so what better way to wrap up a Hall of Fame career than appearing on the cover of Madden '08?
Madden himself has said that ""Brett is a great gunslinger, BOOM! I'd love him to be on the cover, he makes fantastic decisions, especially at the end of last season's Cincinnati game, and there's nobody I'd want more running the two-minute drill or being president of the world. Watch as he goes here, and his receiver goes over here, and the ball goes right into the hands of the defender, but it was as good as a punt anyway. Brett is the real Highlander, POW!""
OK, he did not really say that, but it summarizes his thoughts on Favre pretty well. By putting Favre on the cover, Madden could stop the endless heartache of fantasy football owners and contending teams.
Either that, or he could just put the entire Vikings or Bears teams on the cover, because nobody likes them.
—If you think Zach is just bitter because the Packers are awful, feel free to let him know by contacting him at zlkukkonen@dailycardinal.com.
