Hillis should run for the hills
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Browns fans, my best wishes this upcoming season, but your best player is doomed before the season ever starts. Might as well wish for a season-long lockout now because it will be another year of sadness and tears, and the 'Dawg Pound' will be left without a bone.
I'm sending my regards to Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis before the curse strikes. Maybe he can take this as a warning. If the man has a lucky rabbit's foot, I suggest he start carrying it around, with a four-leaf clover taped to it.
He might slip in a puddle and land the wrong way, or maybe he will injure himself in a non-sanctioned NFL workout. Something will happen. It always does. His career will never be the same.
For those who didn't hear, Hillis was voted to be the next cover person for the Madden '12 video game. He was voted for the first time by the fans, who took part in online voting to put him on the cover.
Good going, Cleveland. It's not like you don't have a past that involves, "The Fumble," "Red-Right 88," and "The Drive."
The man who saved many fantasy teams last season with 1,177 yards with 11 touchdowns for the Browns isn't getting near my team this year. He's officially cursed!
I'm not being a negative Nancy, but if he doesn't already, he better look both ways and twice for motorcycles when crossing an intersection. He better stay away from black cats in his path, and for the love of God, he better not step under a ladder. Little does he know … even his bruising style on the football field is no match for what he is about to face.
Running over teams like the Cincinnati Bengals won't compare to the Madden Curse and what it brings to the table.
You've never heard of the Madden Curse?
"The Curse of the Bambino" and the "Sports Illustrated Jinx" leave the room when the Madden Curse makes a visit.
Here's a condensed version of heartbreak and tragedy that has taken down some of the most productive players (at the time) in the NFL.
Eddie George appeared on Madden '01 (for the 2000 season), and that's when strange things started to happen. Even Eddie couldn't outrun this curse.
The previous season, George and the Titans were in the Super Bowl, and the season he made the cover, he was never the same player, becoming a shell of his former self. This story can be said for many of the players we are about to talk about.
Cue the "Unsolved Mysteries" music.
Next was Daunte Culpepper. He led the league in interceptions, his team was terrible and a couple seasons later, his knee was destroyed. Following Culpepper was Marshall Faulk of the Rams. He wasn't what he used to be, and a couple years later … he sustained knee injuries. Done.
Michael Vick was on the '04 edition. What happened to him? Only a broken leg in the preseason, and he later landed in prison.
Ray Lewis ('05) couldn't even intimidate the curse of Madden. He broke his wrist in Week 15. In '06, it was Donovan McNabb. What happened to him? He tore his ACL, and now he was benched by the awful Washington Redskins.
Starting to change your mind, aren't you?
The '07 cover featured Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, the reigning NFL MVP. He injured his foot and was like the others … never the same. The '08 cover featured Vince Young, and he never lived up to his talent and was cut this offseason.
Madden '09 featured Brett Favre in a Packers uniform, but he played for the Jets that year. He played injured, didn't tell anyone and was confused for the remainder of his career.
The '10 cover Madden was worse and cursed Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. Polamalu was injured and missed most of the season. Fitzgerald only suffered a rib injury that year, but the curse was patient, attacking this past season by giving him Derek Anderson and Max Hall as his quarterbacks. Drew Brees was selected to the '11 cover, and though the Saints made the playoffs, they were embarrassed by the 7-9 Seahawks in the playoffs.
That was scary, but the tale had to be told.
Maybe those of use who believe in the Madden Curse all have a different picture of how it happens. My vision is Madden with a voodoo doll pinned to a dart board, yelling 'BOOM' every time he sends the dart and it connects on a body part of the stuffed likeness of the cover player.
I wish luck to the Albino Rhino because he's going need a lot of it.
Forget the lucky rabbit's foot, he's going to need to find an actual rabbit hopping around a horse shoe in a bed of four-leaf clovers.
Don't say I didn't warn you, Browns fans.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/hcpsportseditor
[[In-content Ad]]
I'm sending my regards to Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis before the curse strikes. Maybe he can take this as a warning. If the man has a lucky rabbit's foot, I suggest he start carrying it around, with a four-leaf clover taped to it.
He might slip in a puddle and land the wrong way, or maybe he will injure himself in a non-sanctioned NFL workout. Something will happen. It always does. His career will never be the same.
For those who didn't hear, Hillis was voted to be the next cover person for the Madden '12 video game. He was voted for the first time by the fans, who took part in online voting to put him on the cover.
Good going, Cleveland. It's not like you don't have a past that involves, "The Fumble," "Red-Right 88," and "The Drive."
The man who saved many fantasy teams last season with 1,177 yards with 11 touchdowns for the Browns isn't getting near my team this year. He's officially cursed!
I'm not being a negative Nancy, but if he doesn't already, he better look both ways and twice for motorcycles when crossing an intersection. He better stay away from black cats in his path, and for the love of God, he better not step under a ladder. Little does he know … even his bruising style on the football field is no match for what he is about to face.
Running over teams like the Cincinnati Bengals won't compare to the Madden Curse and what it brings to the table.
You've never heard of the Madden Curse?
"The Curse of the Bambino" and the "Sports Illustrated Jinx" leave the room when the Madden Curse makes a visit.
Here's a condensed version of heartbreak and tragedy that has taken down some of the most productive players (at the time) in the NFL.
Eddie George appeared on Madden '01 (for the 2000 season), and that's when strange things started to happen. Even Eddie couldn't outrun this curse.
The previous season, George and the Titans were in the Super Bowl, and the season he made the cover, he was never the same player, becoming a shell of his former self. This story can be said for many of the players we are about to talk about.
Cue the "Unsolved Mysteries" music.
Next was Daunte Culpepper. He led the league in interceptions, his team was terrible and a couple seasons later, his knee was destroyed. Following Culpepper was Marshall Faulk of the Rams. He wasn't what he used to be, and a couple years later … he sustained knee injuries. Done.
Michael Vick was on the '04 edition. What happened to him? Only a broken leg in the preseason, and he later landed in prison.
Ray Lewis ('05) couldn't even intimidate the curse of Madden. He broke his wrist in Week 15. In '06, it was Donovan McNabb. What happened to him? He tore his ACL, and now he was benched by the awful Washington Redskins.
Starting to change your mind, aren't you?
The '07 cover featured Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, the reigning NFL MVP. He injured his foot and was like the others … never the same. The '08 cover featured Vince Young, and he never lived up to his talent and was cut this offseason.
Madden '09 featured Brett Favre in a Packers uniform, but he played for the Jets that year. He played injured, didn't tell anyone and was confused for the remainder of his career.
The '10 cover Madden was worse and cursed Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. Polamalu was injured and missed most of the season. Fitzgerald only suffered a rib injury that year, but the curse was patient, attacking this past season by giving him Derek Anderson and Max Hall as his quarterbacks. Drew Brees was selected to the '11 cover, and though the Saints made the playoffs, they were embarrassed by the 7-9 Seahawks in the playoffs.
That was scary, but the tale had to be told.
Maybe those of use who believe in the Madden Curse all have a different picture of how it happens. My vision is Madden with a voodoo doll pinned to a dart board, yelling 'BOOM' every time he sends the dart and it connects on a body part of the stuffed likeness of the cover player.
I wish luck to the Albino Rhino because he's going need a lot of it.
Forget the lucky rabbit's foot, he's going to need to find an actual rabbit hopping around a horse shoe in a bed of four-leaf clovers.
Don't say I didn't warn you, Browns fans.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/hcpsportseditor
[[In-content Ad]]