The biggest news this offseason wasn't T.O. going to the Dallas Cowboys. It wasn't the speedy recoveries of injured quarterbacks Daunte Culpepper, Drew Brees and Carson Palmer.
It wasn't the off the field antics of assualt, robbery and drug use by the Cincinnati Bengals, who, ironically, wear orange.
No, the biggest story of the offseason for millions of NFL fans was the announcement that Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander would grace the cover of EA Sports' Madden 2007 game. Alexander has rushed for nearly 8,000 yards and has scored 89 touchdowns in his six-year NFL career.
But his selection as this year's cover boy is making millions of fantasy football players nervous.
The former Alabama workhorse has been a fantasy gold mine the past three seasons. I had him on my team last season and he was the reason I won my fantasy league. Alexander had a season where he broke Priest Holmes single-season touchdown total and was named the NFL's MVP.
But now he's on the cover of Madden and the whispers of him being cursed are swarming across the country.
What curse you ask?
Much like the Sports Illustrated curse, if you appear on the cover of Madden something bad (injury, costly turnover, etc.) will happen to you or your team.
The so-called Madden curse has its origins in 1999. For years, the Madden video game franchise featured only one person on the cover: John Madden.
That began to change in the summer of 1999 when Detroit Lions' running back Barry Sanders appeared on the 2000 game cover with the Hall of Fame coach. Just a few days before the start of training camp Sanders abruptly retired.
True, the only people cursed were the Lions and their fans as the team went 8-8 and missed the playoffs but the video game calamity had been born.
For every season after that something unfortunate has happened to the cover boy.
Eddie George, Madden 2001
One of the NFL's most durable backs had a record year in 2000, rushing for 1,509 yards and scoring 16 total touchdowns. The so-called curse happened in the 2000 AFC Divisional playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens. George couldn't get a handle on a screen pass. Ray Lewis came over and swiped it for an interception and ran it back for a touchdown. The Ravens won the game 24-10 and went on to win the Super Bowl.
Daunte Culpepper, Madden 2002
In 2000, the second-year quarterback threw for 3,937 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also rushed for 470 yards and seven touchdowns. He was placed on the cover in the summer of 2001 and had one of his worst seasons of his career.
Culpepper threw for 2,612 yards with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions before missing the final five games of the year with a sprained knee.
Marshall Faulk, Madden 2003
From 1998-2001, Faulk had four-straight season of more than 2,000 all-purpose yards and was the centerpiece of St. Louis' "Greatest Show on Turf" teams.
The 2000 NFL MVP appeared on the cover in the summer of 2002 and promptly suffered an ankle injury and missed six games. He failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time and has yet to accomplish the feat again.
Michael Vick, Madden 2004
The NFL's most exciting play maker had a stellar 2002 campaign in which he accumulated 3,713 total yards and 20 total touchdowns.
The following summer he was placed on the cover and proceeded to injure his ankle in a preseason game. He would play in only five games and coach Dan Reeves would be fired after the season.
Ray Lewis, Madden 2005
As the first defensive player to appear on the cover it seemed that the Madden curse would finally be ended in 2004 with the Baltimore Ravens star linebacker. The 2003 Defensive Player of the Year missed the final game of the season due to an injury but that's not the real curse.
It was Lewis' first season without an interception and the Ravens failed to make the postseason, a year after winning the divisional crown.
Donovan McNabb, Madden 2006
Anything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback last season. There was the feud with Terrell Owens which began in training camp.
Then in the first regular season game former Marksville star and current Atlanta Falcon defensive tackle Chad Lavalias hit McNabb in the chest with his helmet.
McNabb played through the resulting sports hernia until he injured his groin later in the year trying to tackle the Dallas Cowboys' Roy Williams after the defensive back intercepted him.
Now whether you believe that being on the cover of a video game will doom that player's and his team's season is irrelevant.
Being both a gamer and a fantasy football player, I'm even hesitant of selecting Alexander.
And I'm from Alabama.
It's not because of Madden, though. Of the past cover boys, other factors were prominent than the cover curse. McNabb had to deal with the T.O. fiasco, Culpepper, Vick and Faulk all had unpredictable injuries. Lewis' simply had a dip in his stats and as for George, he had still had a record year.
No the real concern for Alexander is far more simple, the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl.
The last five Super Bowl losers (Giants, Rams, Raiders, Panthers and Eagles) all failed to make the playoffs the next season.
Also, the Seahawks lost All-Pro left guard Steve Hutchinson to Minnesota. Alexander has always preferred to run to the left side of the line.
Those two factors and the realization that Alexander will likely not duplicate his 2005 season numbers is more of a reason to be hesitant on drafting him than of his Madden cover.
Of course, I don't believe in curses which is why I have Shaun Alexander No. 1 on my draft board ... of cursed Madden running backs, that is.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /608280315
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