A lot of us have grown up playing video games in our childhood. For the hardcore gamers who are also NFL fans, EA’s Madden is one such game everybody would’ve played. While some would’ve coached Tom Brady‘s Patriots as Bill Belichick, some would have made the Chiefs win the three-peat, playing as Patrick Mahomes. A lot of them, too, would’ve dreamed of being on the cover of the game. As it turns out, one such Eagles player has made his dream of being on the cover come true with the release of the cover of Madden 26.
As the launch of Madden 26 looms right around the corner, EA has made a big announcement. On Monday, EA went ahead to announce Saquon Barkley as their new cover player. The Philadelphia Eagles RB also received the honor of being a part of the ’99 Club’. The ’99 Club’ is a club of all the players who have been given the highest rating in the game. Making him one of the few elite players to join the club.
Celebrating the announcement, Saquon Barkley posted a behind-the-scenes clip of the Madden 26 cover shoot on Instagram. As so many of his fans and friends started wishing him for this achievement, so did Fox broadcaster, Erin Andrews. Joining the others, an ecstatic Erin Andrews also reacted to his achievement and wrote, “Awesome!!!!!“ Speaking at a news release, Barkley said, “Starring on the cover of Madden NFL 26 and being named to the Madden NFL ’99 Club’ are both dreams come true. I’m grateful to my teammates, coaches, and Eagles fans for their support, and I can’t wait to hit the field again to give Madden players more highlight-reel moments in Madden NFL 26,” Barkley said while being grateful for the support he got from the team and his fans.
To be honest, it’s not surprising that it is Saquon Barkley who is on the cover. After all, he had such a memorable season in 2024. During the regular season, Barkley made 345 rushing attempts while covering 2,005 yards. He also managed to get 13 TDs during the regular season. Meanwhile, during the postseason, Barkley recorded 91 rushing attempts, 499 yards, and even 5 TDs. Considering these figures in addition to the Super Bowl that he won with the Eagles, it was really a perfect season for Barkley.
But with appearing on the cover of Madden also comes a huge risk. Often called the Madden curse, it is believed by the fans that any player who features on the cover of Madden suffers a major downfall in the next season. The question now arises: Is it a myth or just an awful coincidence?
Will Saquon Barkley defy the Madden curse?
Every sport has its own superstitions. For the NFL fans, it is the Madden curse. The curse talks about the players who have featured on the cover of Madden and had a subsequent fall in form, or suffered a season-impacting injury. For a long time, everyone thought of this curse as real because of what these players suffered in the season after the cover. However, it seems that in recent times, the curse isn’t as effective anymore. This has led the people to question whether the curse is real or not.
To really answer if the curse is real or not, we’ll have to take a look at the history of it all. It all started back in 1998 with Garrison Hearst, who featured on the cover after a productive season with the 49ers after rushing for 1,570 yards and seven touchdowns. However, in the 1998 season, Hearst broke his fibula on the first play from scrimmage during the NFC divisional playoff game against the Falcons and missed two seasons. This trend continued since then, with 16 players out of 27 being injured.
However, the curse seems to have weakened lately, with no players suffering any major injuries from 2017 till 2023. While Josh Allen did suffer a slight slump since 2023, he did not suffer any major injury. The only exception in recent times is Christian McCaffrey, who suffered multiple injuries, limiting his time on the field to just 4 games. While the public sentiment is that the Madden curse has almost died. Could McCaffrey’s 2024 season be a sign of the re-emergence of the curse? Only time will tell as Barkley will be praying for the best.
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