Brett Favre and the Madden Curse
Madden NFL 2009 will be released on August 12th, 2009 with former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre on the cover. At the time of release Favre was retired and became the first non active cover boy in the history of the vidoe game franchise. Until recent developments it would also seem that Favre was going to be the first player to avoid the Madden Curse.
Prior to 1999, every annual installment of the Madden NFL series primarily featured John MaddenElectronic Arts selected Garrison Hearst to appear on the cover, and has since featured one of the league’s top players on every annual installment.[5] Since then, certain players have experienced a decline in performance, usually due to an injury. For example, quarterback Michael Vick appeared on the cover of on its cover. In 1999, Madden 2004, and suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for most of the 2004 season.[5] In a similar example, running back Shaun Alexander, then the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player , was featured on the cover of Madden NFL 2007, and sustained a foot injury that caused him to miss six starts.[6] As a result, Alexander’s rushing statistics were substantially less than those from the previous season.[6] - Wilikpedia.org
Of course Favre is likely to come out of retirement and any NFL franchise should be reticent to trade for the future Hall of Famer due to his inclusion on the cover of the latest version of Madden. I am not saying he will get injured, his 253 consecutive starts point to the contrary, but he could under perform like many of his Madden cover boys predecessors.
Madden cover curses aside history is not on the side of Favre. There is also a nasty precedent of aging quarterbacks hanging on too long and playing for different teams at the end of their careers( i.e. Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana). Of course Montana played fairly well for Kansas City but he was never the same quarterback and this is the likely scenario for Favre.
Madden ‘09 and Matt Jones
Life In The DPC is eagerly waiting for the release of Madden NFL ‘09 on August 12th, 2008. It’s sad but true that Madden NFL 2008 is still on heavy rotation at the palatial estate of your scribe considering that there are minimal changes from each annual edition. Like the main difference from the ‘07 edition to the ‘08 edition is the exclusion of Pacman Jones but in an act of hypocrisy Tank Johnson and Chris Henry were both included.
Maybe I was irked by the exclusion of Pacman Jones because he is a member of the DPC Madden All Stars (i.e. players that I always have on my Madden Franchise Teams). With Pacman booted out of the ‘08 version I had to go to my back up defensive back Antrel Rolle. (Keep in mind Rolle is on the DPC All Stars because he was involved in the greatest “tackle” I witnessed in person. The aforementioned tackle, and YouTube link, are not given justice by the Zapruder-esque video but I thought Larry Johnson had broken his neck during the play.)
The DPC Madden All Stars recently took a bad hit when their wide receiver Matt Jones got busted for alleged possession of a controlled substance after he may have been found cutting up cocaine with a credit card while sitting in a car in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Jones made the DPC All Stars for the same reason that the Jaguars made him a first round draft pick;a 4.40 40-yard dash to go along with his 6′6″ and 232 lbs. measurements.
With a little over a month to go before Madden ‘08 is released the DPC All Stars will likely include:
QB: JaMarcus Russel (The heir apparent to Jeff George)
HB: Reggie Bush, Michael Bennett
FB:LenDale White (I know he’s a halfback but I line him up as fullback because of his girth and speed)
WR: Matt Jones, Drew Carter, Mike Williams, Nate Burleson
TE: Greg Olson
DB: Pacman Jones, Antrel Rolle
WW3 and Life In The DPC!
Editor’s Note: Life In The DPC! is getting a bit of a touch up. The archives will be back as soon I find the Rosetta Stone for FTP.
The football season is over and now I am left in a rutt as I figure out gow to kill my Sundays for the next seven months. I have March Madness coming up but football is my fave and I am little lost. This malaise and confusion might be a result of the Super Bowl. With a gap in my heart I will focus on Madden 2007 which I never gave proper attention to siince its release.
In this recent edition I have maintained the same ethos as in any prior edition: I will use, speed, four and five wide receiver sets and cannon armed QB’s to out score opponents. I will use the run to keep the defense honest and I will blow all of my draft picks and available salary cap space on over priced wide receivers that can burn off the hash marks.
“Talent borrows and genius steals.” - Oscar Wilde
As such I am unfortunately a disciple of Don Coryell, Al Davis and Mike Martz. The aforementioned ideology I use in Madden is based upon their respective systems. Coryell is the axis and everyone else(Davis, Martz) comes after. I have grown sick of explaining on how my system or schemes are part Air Coryell, a dash of The Greatest Show On Turf and many bits of The Vertical Stretch. Since I want to give myself more credit than I deserve from this point forward the logic, ethos and execution of my pass happy mayhem will be known as World War III. 
Why WWIII? If there was ever going to be a third World War in my lifetime it would have been as a direct result of the Cold War. One side would have haphazardly sent off an ICBM and a Dr. Strangelove style nuclear holocaust. There would be no face to face combat. All strikes would be through the air as hell rained down from 5,000 miles away towards a general population that had no idea what was going on. My offense works the same way in Madden 07. By way of a fantasy draft in franchise mode I have speed with Donte Stallworth, Santonio Holmes, Matt Jones and Devin Hester at the wide receiver positions.(I realize he is DB and return specialist but he is surprisingly adaptable) Drew Carter is my fifth option and a 6′4″ 205 lb. wideout with 96 speed that can overwhelm any dimeback.
Reggie Bush and LenDale White anchor the backfield when I feel the need to flip the script. Though Bush is used primarily as a release valve out and White is a third short kinda’ guy. 
Antonio Gates is available for three receiver and a tight end set ups. Vince Young uses his speed to dodge defenders while the routes develop.
It all comes together and will be augmented by off season moves that should yield Randy Moss via trade or Ted Ginn in the draft. But does it work? In Madden it does. The three theories I base my offense on won a single Super Bowl and that game was played in a dome. Al Davis’ Raiders didn’t win a Super Bowl with Daryle Lamonica and Air Coryell could never get the Chargers to the promiseland. WWIII works in theory and in the fictious landscape known as Life In The DPC!.
