Attention Cleveland your 15 minutes of fame has arrived.
If anyone out there in Steeler nation has not heard, Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis will grace the cover of Madden 2012. For the first time ever, the nations most popular sports video game teamed up with ESPN and held a fan vote to determine who would be on the cover.
In an NCAA tournament style bracket, Hillis beat out players such as Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, Drew Brees, and our own Hines Ward for the prestigious acknowledgement.
Madden fans from all over the nation are crying out Peyton who, and some may even be demanding a recount. But I hate to break it to all the fans in disbelief; there is no conspiracy behind Hillis receiving this honor, just another case of the Madden curse working its magic.
For those of you who may not know what the Madden curse is, it is a proven theory that suggests whomever graces the cover of Madden in a given year will either get hurt during the season, or put up extremely subpar numbers for their standards.
With that being said, I am proposing that Peyton Hillis won the vote by default. Is it possible that fans of teams who had superstars in this competition threw the election to keep their player off the cover?
Logically you would ask if everyone believed in this curse, then why would Brown’s fans want their best player to risk damnation.
Well, I guess in Cleveland they will take whatever good publicity they can get at this point.
If you think my theory on this voting process is so absurd that you simply can’t go with it, allow me to prove the curse is real and then you will see why you would never wish the cover on any member of the black and gold.
In 2001, Eddie George earned the distinction of the first NFL player to be on the cover of Madden. That season, while George did not miss any games due to injury, for the first time in his career George failed to rush for over 1,000 yards. That season, George averaged his lowest yard per rush total in his career, and had the lowest touchdown production of his career.
In the 2004 edition of the game, Michael Vick had just signed the largest contract given to any player ever. Vick never reached his expectations that season as the Falcons quarterback suffered a broken leg in the preseason and was out for the entire year.
Donovan Mcnabb, the 2006 cover boy, played in only nine games that season and had his competitiveness questioned by his teammates. Mcnabb and wide receiver Terrell Owens began their drawn out feud resulting in Owens’ departure from the team.
Shaun Alexander was another player in the long line of those affected by the curse. Coming off a season when Alexander rushed for 1,880 yards and an NFL record 27 touchdowns, Alexander was featured on the 2007 cover. That next season, Alexander only played in 10 games, rushed for 896 yards, and seven touchdowns, putting fantasy owners on suicide watch.
Vince Young was featured on the 2008 cover after only two years in the league and………. Well we all know how his career has looked since then.
The curse has even had an impact on the Steelers. In the 2010 edition of the game, Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald shared the cover duty. Coming off the Super Bowl victory, the Steelers had the NFL opener at Heinz Field on Thursday Night Football.
While trying to recover a blocked field goal, Polamalu sprained his knee and was out for the next four games of the season. He attempted to return that year, but reinjured himself against the Bengals and the Steelers failed to make the playoffs.
So you see, the Madden curse is absolutely real. I don’t think Peyton Hillis won the vote to be this years cover man; he was simply the last man standing in a race no one wanted to win.