After reading earlier today that Duante Culpepper has retired, I started thinking about how far he fell after gracing the cover of Madden 2002. Next up was Mike Vick and not only is he out of football, but he’s serving time. Last I thought about Shaun Alexander, and he is also in the unemployment line waiting for a team to call. Three cover boys, and all three have arguably had their careers cut short. What do all three have in common? All have never really recovered from being on the Madden cover. I ask the question, out of the three mentioned, who has been cursed the most? Vote in our poll and tell us what you think.
Culpepper was coming off a spectacular 2000 campaign in which he threw for 33 TDs and 3,937 yards. He was a fantasy football monster, and owners were already building him a win in the Fantasy Football Hall of Fame. It was Culpepper-to-Moss all day, and they couldn’t be stopped. That is until 2001 when EA Sports called and asked ‘Pep to grace the cover for Madden 2002. Then the wheels fell off and everything went down hill. Culpepper struggled all season. The Vikings were losing and Culepper was making bad decisions and bad throws. Things didn’t get much better. In Week 12 against the Steelers, Culpepper sustained a knee injury and missed the rest of the season. He’s never really been the same since then. He’s now only 31 years old and announced his retirement today. It’s a shame when you consider the NFL has teams that start Brody Croyle, J.T. O’Sullivan, Kyle Orton, Tavaris Jackson, etc…
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| Michael Vick, aka Mike Vick, aka Ron Mexico, was considered the most electrifying athlete in the NFL. This was a guy who was so popular because you either loved him or hated him. EA Sports didn’t care. They had him pegged for the Madden 2004 cover. In 2003, the curse struck Vick before he even played a regular season game. Madden 2004 released in August, and a few days later Vick broke his right fibula in a preseason game and missed the next 12 weeks. Atlanta went 5-11 that season and missed the playoffs. The biggest curse of all came a few years later when Vick was involved in a dog fighting scandal. He was found guilty and is now in prison. It doesn’t get much worse than this if you ask me. |  |
| By the time we got to Madden 2007, I no longer doubted there was a cover curse. This time Shuan Alexander was the victim. I purposely avoided him in my fantasy leagues. Sure he was coming off a season where he broke the record for most touchdowns scored in a season (28). That wasn’t a fluke year either. He is the first player in history to score at least 15 touchdowns in his first five seasons. But still, I wasn’t buying it. And I’m glad I didn’t. In Week 3, Alexander broke a bone in his foot which hampered him all year. He only rushed for 896 yards and under 4 yards per carry. Things haven’t gotten any better for Alexander. He was even worse last year, and is now out of the league |  |
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Comments about this article
I say Alexander, He had the fastest fall from greatness. Most people knew that it was Moss making Culpepper god-like and Vick had been involved in dog fighting before. Alexander went from #1 RB to unwanted FA in a blink.
It definitely wasnt culpepper cuz he was never that great anyway, he was always average. Those numbers he put up was because of RANDY MOSS, culpepper called tha play and told randy to go on a streak pattern every time
I say Vick because he got hurt and was out for the year that year
In the preseason when they played the Ravens
Posted by:
Rush23
on September 5, 2008, 6:13 am
Good idea for a article, nice job fred. i definitely agree with you, alexander fell from the top he may have had it the worse.
Posted by:
sniperhare
on September 5, 2008, 7:56 am
Alexander is on the Lions now, he just needs to earn the starting job from rookie Kevin Smith.
Posted by:
sniperhare
on September 5, 2008, 7:56 am
Oh wait, that was Rudi Johnson nevermind.
Posted by:
stevsta
on September 5, 2008, 10:02 am
What about marshall faulk once he was on the cover he broke his knee or something like that never the same
Yeah but Marshall never really fell off. He just couldn't recover from a bad injury. Culpepper didn't do anything when Moss left even before his injuries. He’s stupid for trying to represent himself as an agent/player. My favorite team's QB who just happens to be the world's dumbest dogfighter, Vick was on top of the NFL commercially, but he was never on top as far as his game goes. Besides, Vick being in jail really isn't that bad, its being out of the NFL that's a big deal. Honestly most of Vick's fans are thugs and hoodlums LOL! I hate to say it but it's the truth. So being locked up isn't a big deal 'cause those criminals love him and now they'll love him even more for not snitching on his family. Alexander is the OBVIOUS winner of this discussion. NFL MVP, played in the Super Bowl, broke records (all thanks to Hutchinson) now nobody even wants him. That’s just plain sad. Culpepper will be back in the NFL, Vick will be back in the NFL, Alexander, he won’t even be back in the NFL commentating.
Posted by:
cruddy3000
on September 5, 2008, 1:02 pm
Definitely shawn alexander he was great
If it was moss making Culpepper god-like then why didnt moss make any of the qbs down i oakland god like idiot.
defenitly alexander he is trash
Because Dulpepper had some talent, and Moss magnified it, just like he is doing for Brady who already has great talent. Oakland QB's just plain suck... and no offensive line to give Moss the time to get deep, any other questions?
Culpepper's case will be mainly made due to the fact that he's the only one of the 3 mentioned that was relevant recently.......and retiring at 31 isnt necessarily a blessing (but at least he can walk away from the game, relatively speaking of course)...........
Vick's case seems the worst to me since it seemed to get progressively worse and worse for him over the years..just taking that one year he was on the cover is bad enough missing all but 4 games and his team playing horribly but his career since then had been much of a downward spiral....he goes from being cover boy and highest paid passer in league (depending on how you count contracts) to a "coach killer", to a liar to prison........and let's not forget, unless they've changed their minds, he still has state charges pending against him as well as the federal charges he's currently spending time for.......
With Alexander (the no longer great), it may very well be a matter of the typical roadblock NFL backs usually hit at his age or his point in his career...but if you think about it, he's the least controversial of the 3 and to finally have an injury like the one he had, that's got to be something "otherwordly"........
The year Moss got hurt was when Pepper had his best year so it wasent Moss
Posted by:
SosicGamer
on September 8, 2008, 7:43 pm
This is a good one. For Shaun it pains me to say it, for I have long been a lifelong Seahawks fan, but he was never that truly great. He was nothing more than a good RB in a great system. For years he was running behind the two best Left Offensive Linemen in the league. Walter Jones and Steve Hutchingson would create such great running lanes that most starting RB's in the league could put up the kind of numbers Shaun did in his "MVP" year. Throw in a great West Coast QB like Hasselbeck and a couple of capable receivers and a good TE for when the defense loads the left and you have a system that makes RB's very happy and productive.
For Culpepper it's a different kind of system. He had a cannon for an arm and two of the top ten receivers of all time in Chris Carter and Randy Moss. No one could or still can keep up with Moss and his hands, height and athletic ability are now legendary and he has become the prototype for today's taller receivers. And remember he was Dante's second choice for years behind the nearly as fast and great route runner Chris Carter. With an arm like Culpepper's an O'line that can buy you time and a RB to keep the D honest you have a great system that will put up big passing and TD numbers for your Qb.
Now for the winner or the loser I guess. Vick was huge even before the NFL. Hyped since high school, ready to become the new style of QB or so we thought. His curse is by far the worst because EA doomed him before he even got in the NFL. In college his speed and arm kept the defenses confused and over focused on Vick opening up the deep ball, welcome to the NFL. Being injured before his first start was tragic but it should have given him time to learn the in's and out's of the NFL but it didn't seem to help. He had a big arm like Culpepper but never had receivers or the aim to use it. He was still ridiculously quick but speed just wasn't enough and he never evolved to an NFL caliber passer. His curse wins in my opinion because it was from the start he never got a chance to be "Great". Maybe the curse kept him from becoming a passer, or from a system that could have worked for him (one fast receiver and the old college triple option sounds good). As for the dog fighting thing that's no curse just a bad choice.
Finally, I think Shaun and Dante should leave the NFL behind gracefully. A few years down the road We will all remember the good years and the post Madden curse era's of their careers will fade away. As for Vick I hope he makes a come back and does well. He has plenty of time to work out, and should improve his passing, I heard there are tons of receivers in jail, and punters! Bah-Dump-Dump!
Good-Night Everybody
Good point about the 2004 season... Moss only missed 3 games from that injury, but Culpepper had a great season that year because he completed more passes than in years before.
Posted by:
JRDemus23
on September 12, 2008, 1:13 pm
I would say Michael Vick just due to the fact that he is in prison now he is broke...unlike culpepper and alexander..
Definitley Vick, he had the bigger injury in the season he was on the cover. It also happened in a more frakish way, honestly Qbs only play like what 2 3 series atmost in the preseason n he breaks his leg. Oh and not to mention The guy's in jail now... weird
