As the 2024 NFL regular season has come to a close, one of the league’s biggest surprises was the San Francisco 49ers finishing last in the NFC West.
Much of that had to do with injuries, including those of reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey, who donned the cover of Madden NFL 2025.
After an injury-plagued season in which McCaffrey played just four games, is the Madden curse back?
Cllct ranked every season a player had after appearing on the Madden cover.
NOTE: This list only focuses on the season following a cover appearance. For example, Eddie George was the first player featured on the cover for the 2001 edition. This list takes into account George’s year prior (1999) and season following his appearance (2000). It does not take into account what happened after 2000.
This is because there is no way to take this into account for a player like McCaffrey, who does not have a second season following the cover to judge.
Reversed the curse
24. Patrick Mahomes, Madden 2020
The season before, Mahomes set the NFL on fire with more than 5,000 passing yards, 50 touchdown passes and the league MVP award in his first season as a starter in Kansas City. And though next season he didn’t match those numbers — in large part due to a knee injury — he collected the ultimate prize, Super Bowl MVP. As far as curses go, that’s about as far away from it as possible.
23. Calvin Johnson, Madden 2013
In 2011, Johnson cemented himself as the best receiver in the NFL with 96 catches, 16 TDs and a league-leading 1,681 yards.
While he didn’t match the TD numbers following his appearance on the cover of Madden, he led the NFL with 122 catches and produced an NFL record 1,964 yards, a record that still stands despite the league now playing 17 games.
22. Tom Brady, Madden 2018
Brady’s 2016 season was magical. After missing the first four games of the season due to the “Deflategate” suspension, Brady finished second in the MVP race despite playing only 12 games, and then capped off his revenge tour with a 28-3 comeback against the Falcons to win Super Bowl LI and Super Bowl MVP.
In 2017, he nearly did it again. Brady won league MVP at age 40 and nearly won the Super Bowl again, losing to the Eagles in the title game. Still, Brady became the first player in league history with 500 passing yards in a Super Bowl.
Not cursed
21. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, Madden 2022
This cover marked the second time two players who faced off in the Super Bowl the year prior graced the cover together (Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu were the first).
Brady’s first season in Tampa Bay put him on a pedestal above everyone else in league history, and despite losing the Super Bowl, Mahomes led the Chiefs back for the second straight year.
By their own absurd standards, their seasons post-cover were pedestrian, with Brady losing in the divisional round and Mahomes in the AFC Championship.
Still, Brady led the league in passing and Mahomes produced nearly 5,000 yards and 37 touchdowns.
20. Richard Sherman, Madden 2015
Sherman took over the title as the league’s best cornerback in 2013 and the NFL’s biggest trash talker, leading the “Legion of Boom” and guiding the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.
Sherman didn’t match his interception and pass breakup totals in 2014, but it’s because quarterbacks simply weren’t throwing the ball his way. Seattle’s defense was still dominant and Sherman led the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl, where they did eventually lose to the Patriots.
19. Eddie George, Madden 2001
George finished the 1999 season a yard shy from the mountain top, as the Titans fell just short to the Rams in the Super Bowl.
From his ‘99 season to 2000, George improved from Second to First Team All-Pro, producing career highs in yards and touchdowns, but a key drop in the AFC divisional round led to a Ray Lewis pick-six, sealing another playoff loss for the Titans.
18. Josh Allen, Madden 2024
At this point, Allen putting up astronomical numbers is nothing new. In 2022, he produced 42 total touchdowns and led the Bills to 13 wins before falling to the Bengals in the AFC divisional playoffs.
After appearing on the cover, he did throw 18 interceptions, the most of his career, but he also had 44 total touchdowns before losing to the Chiefs (a story as old as time) in the divisional round.
17. Lamar Jackson, Madden 2021
It’s nearly impossible to repeat what Jackson did in 2019, the year before his cover appearance. A league-best 36 TD passes and a 14-2 record helped Jackson become just the second player in league history to be named unanimous NFL MVP.
His 2020 wasn’t as stellar as the year prior or the seasons since, but he still threw for 26 TDs, rushed for more than 1,000 yards and led the Ravens to the AFC divisional round.
16. Odell Beckham Jr., Madden 2016
Few players have ever burst onto the scene the way Beckham did in 2014 with the Giants. The New York rookie led the league with 108.1 receiving yards per game and hauled in what still might be the greatest catch of all time.
Beckham’s post-cover year was great, with 1,450 receiving yards and 13 TDs. Though he did earn himself a suspension due to a fight with Josh Norman.
Maybe cursed
15. Ray Lewis, 2005
Lewis’ 2003 season was one for the ages, winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year after recording 163 tackles and a career-high six interceptions.
His 2004 was still stout, as he was named First Team All-Pro. Still, the Ravens did miss the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.
14. Adrian Peterson, Madden 2014
Peterson’s 2012 season was one of the best a running back has ever had in the league, as he finished seven yards shy of tying Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record and won league MVP.
After appearing on the cover, he still put up plenty of good numbers: 1,266 yards and 10 TDs. His stats just weren’t what he produced the year prior, and Minnesota only won five games.
Probably cursed
13. Drew Brees, Madden 2011
After 2009, Drew Brees was on the NFL’s summit. He finished runner-up for league MVP to Peyton Manning, but Brees then bested Manning in the Super Bowl, leading the Saints to their first title in franchise history.
After appearing on the cover, though, Brees threw a career-high 22 interceptions in 2010 and New Orleans lost to the 7-9 Seahawks in the NFC wild-card round after Marshawn Lynch’s “Beastquake” run.
12. Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu, Madden 2010
The two legends faced off in Super Bowl XLIII, with both producing tremendous 2008 campaigns. Fitzgerald recorded a career-best 1,431 receiving yards, and Polamalu was named First Team All-Pro.
Fitzgerald certainly replicated his success, setting a personal-best 13 touchdowns in 2009, but Polamalu missed 11 games with an MCL injury.
11. Shaun Alexander, Madden 2007
Alexander’s 2005 season was outrageous, leading the league with 1,880 rushing yards, setting a then-NFL record with 28 TDs from scrimmage and pacing the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
The Madden injury bug caught Alexander the next year, forcing him to miss six games with a broken foot. Still, he averaged more than 89 yards per game in his 10 games played and ran for 108 yards and two TDs in a second-round loss to the NFC champion Bears.
10. Marshall Faulk, Madden 2003
Faulk’s three seasons prior to appearing on the Madden cover are up there with the greatest three-year stretch in NFL history.
He won back-to-back-to-back Offensive Player of the Year Awards and appeared in two Super Bowls.
Following his cover appearance, Faulk battled an ankle injury for most of the 2002 season, failing to reach 1,000 yards. Though he still did earn a Pro Bowl nomination, the Rams finished just 7-9 after reaching the Super Bowl the year prior.
9. Vince Young, Madden 2008
After producing one of the best national championship performances ever, Young kept it rolling with an Offensive Rookie of the Year win in 2006.
His 2007 was certainly more flawed, with only nine TD passes and 17 interceptions, as well as being suspended a game for violating team rules. Still, the Titans reached the playoffs, so it was not a total bust.
8. Rob Gronkowski, Madden 2017
Coming off two straight First Team All-Pro appearances, Gronk was finally looking healthy again.
But it wasn’t meant to be. A slew of injuries, including a hamstring issue and a herniated disc limited the tight end to just eight games all season.
Still, the Patriots won the Super Bowl. So while he might have been cursed, but the team certainly wasn’t.
Cursed
7. Brett Favre, Madden 2009
The cover featured Favre in the final season of his legendary career in Green Bay. In 2007, Favre led the Packers to 13 wins and finished runner-up for league MVP.
And then he traveled to the land of broken quarterbacks ... New York.
(Is it really a curse if you knowingly go to a cursed land?)
In his lone season with the Jets, he threw a league-high 22 interceptions, and Gang Green failed to make the playoffs.
6. Christian McCaffrey, Madden 2025
McCaffrey in Kyle Shannahan’s offense was a thing of beauty. He led the NFL with 1,459 rushing yards and 21 total TDs, pacing the way to a Super Bowl appearance.
But, as injuries have plagued McCaffrey throughout his career, they struck again in 2024. McCaffrey was limited to just four games this season, but he did sign a two-year, $38 million extension in the offseason, so it’s tough to be cursed when you’re the highest-paid player in the league at your position.
Very cursed
5. Donovan McNabb, Madden 2006
Few quarterbacks in the NFL were living larger than McNabb when he graced the Madden cover. He was just coming off a season leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance as well as his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.
In 2005, he missed seven games due to a hernia and had a very public feud with Terrell Owens about Philly’s Super Bowl loss.
4. Daunte Culpepper, Madden 2002
In 2000, Culpepper looked like the next hot-shot QB. With nearly 4,000 passing yards and 33 touchdowns, he led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game.
But in 2001, he was downright awful. Through the team’s first 11 games, he had just 14 TD pases to 13 interceptions, and Minnesota limped to a 4-7 record. Then he missed the final five games with a knee injury.
3. Peyton Hillis, Madden 2012
Hillis was a Madden cult hero. The fullback turned running back mustered over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns for the Browns.
Like others, he caught the injury bug following his appearance on the cover and was limited to just 10 games due to strep throat and multiple hamstring injuries.
Most importantly, he failed to secure a long-term extension early in the season.
2. Michael Vick, Madden 2004
Vick’s player in the video game was a cheat code, and it was beginning to feel that way in real life as well.
In 2002, he led the Falcons to the divisional round and finished fourth in the MVP race, leading to his appearance on the cover.
The same week that was announced, Vick broke his leg.
The ultimate curse
1. Antonio Brown - Madden 2019
Has there ever been a greater fall from grace in the history of the NFL?
In 2018, Brown capped his sixth-consecutive year of 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards ... and he set a career high in TDs with 15.
After his cover appearance, he forced his way out of Pittsburgh and then Oakland and then was released after one game with New England.
No one played in fewer games after appearing on the cover, and his wasn’t even due to injury.
Matt Liberman is a video producer and reporter for cllct.