Worst Madden Curse Ever? McCaffrey injured before playing a single down

Has the infamous Madden Curse claimed yet another victim? According to San Francisco Coach Kyle Shanahan, the team may place its best player on injured reserve with a right calf injury and Achilles tendonitis. That would put him out until October at the earliest. Legions of Madden players knowingly shook their heads.

There is a persistent superstition that the athlete who appears on the annual football sim's cover is doomed to be injured. As I mentioned last month, it was hard to imagine the already oft-injured McCaffrey making it through the 2024-25 season unscathed. I hate to be right sometimes, especially when it comes to a player's health.

The athletes who have suffered serious injury the year they appear on Madden's cover reads like a Hall of Fame class. Marshall Faulk, Donovan McNabb, and Shaun Alexander are among the legends claimed by the curse, if you believe in that sort of thing. LaDanian Tomlinson turned down EA's cover offer, saying he wasn't offered enough money. Madden Curse believers have always thought that Tomlinson was one of them, but used money as his excuse to dodge the cover.

I typically don't believe in curses, but this is wild. I've been tracking these injuries for 20 years, and this is the first time I can remember the curse claiming a victim before they've played a down of football. Oh, and for extra spooky points, the news broke on Friday The 13th.

McCaffrey was also the first pick in many fantasy football drafts, and a not insignificant amount of its players think that was the real curse. All I know is that EA may have a hard time finding takers for next year's cover. Anybody ready for Carolina Panthers punter Johnny Hekker to appear on the Madden 26 cover?