The John Madden Football Curse

After hearing much about the John Madden Football Curse, where the player (and his team) that grace the front cover of John Madden Football end up having a sub par season the following year. Here are stats for each of the players:

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Madden Year	Player	Season	Stats	Team Record	Notes
2009	Brett Favre	2008	3472 Yards, 22TD, 22 INT	9-7 3rd place	Favre and the Jets started the season hot, but after Favre injured his throwing arm, the season collapsed quickly. Favre threw 6 less TD's and 7 more int's then in 2007. The Jets finished 9-7 after starting 8-3 and missed the playoffs.
2008	Vince Young	2007	2546 Yards, 9TD, 17 INT	10-6 3rd place	Vince Young finished with 9 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, but completed 62% of his passes and Tennessee went 10-6, losing to the Chargers in the first round of the playoffs.
2007	Shaun Alexander	2006	896 Yards, 7 TD, 3.6 YPC	9-7 1st Place	Shaun Alexander missed 6 regular season games with a broken foot. He finished the season with 896 yards and a 3.6 yard per carry average (well down from his 4.4 career yard per carry average). His 896 yards and 7 touchdowns were the lowest since his rookie season.
2006	Donovan Mcnabb	2005	2507 Yards, 16 TD, 9 INT	6-10 4th place	After week 9, Mcnabb suffered a hernia and was lost for the season. Mcnabb threw for more interceptions and his yards per attempt and completion percentage were down from 2004. The Eagles finished 6-10, in last place, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
2005	Ray Lewis	2004	147 Tak, 1 Sack	9-7 2nd Place	Ray Lewis for the most part avoided the curse. His numbers were slightly down from the year before, but he missed one game. He did not record an interception in 2004, the first time in his career.
2004	Michael Vick	2003	585 Yards, 4 TD, 3 INT	5-11 4th Place	Vick missed the first 11 games with a broken leg. Vick's QB rating, comp pct, and yards per attempt were all down from 2002.
2003	Marshall Faulk	2002	212 Rush, 953 Yds, 8 TD	7-9 3rd Place	Despite playing the same amount of games, Faulk rushed for 430 less yards and had 4 less TDs compared to 2001. Faulk's worst season since 1996. Rams scored only 16 more points then their 1996 team who had Tony Banks at QB and Lawrence Phillips at RB.
2002	Daunte Culpepper	2001	2612 Yds, 14 TD, 13 Int	5-11 4th Place	Culpepper missed 4 games with injury, threw for 1300 less yards and 19 less TD's then in 2000. Minnesota's worst record since 1984.
2001	Eddie George	2000	403 Rush, 1509 Yds, 14 TD	13-3 1st Place	George's curse came in 2001 where he failed to break 1000 yards and Tennessee missed the playoffs going 7-9.
2000	Barry Sanders	1999	Retired	8-8 3rd Place	Sanders in pictured over Madden's left shoulder on the cover. Sanders abruptly retired in July before the start of the 1999 season.
1999	Garrison Hearst	1998	310 Rush, 1570 Yds, 7 TD	8-8 3rd Place	Garrison Hearst was on select covers of Madden 1999. Hearst had an outstanding regular season, finishing third in rushing yards. Hearst suffered a broken ankle in the divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons. The severe break required Hearst to miss two full NFL seasons.

Note: Before 1999, John Madden Football did not have NFL players on its cover. It just had a picture of John Madden himself.

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