Madden curse to help the Panthers?

[Goat2SRT]

Madden cover man revealed

Posted by Mike Florio on April 22, 2010 7:17 AM ET

Simultaneously, all Saints fans and Vikings defensive Jared Allen have just shouted the "F" word.

Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Drew Brees will be on the cover of the Madden 11 game.

Brees achieved the honor via an online fan vote. The other finalists were Allen and Colts receiver Reggie Wayne, whose indirect contribution to the new version of the game will be a revolutionary defensive back route-jumping animation.

Saints fans likely will be leery due to the so-called "Madden curse," which supposedly results in injury or ineffectiveness for the cover athlete. We generally don't believe in such nonsense, but to the extent that the notion of a curse creeps into the back of the mind of the guy who is subject to it, who knows?

Last year, the Madden game featured Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Polamalu was injured in Week One and played sparingly thereafter. Fitzgerald had no ill effects; indeed, he somehow avoided what appeared to be a serious knee injury at one point.