Tag: ea sports

Categories
San Diego Chargers

LT smart for turning down Madden cover? Nope, just greedy


EA Sports: LT, we want you to have the honor of being on the Madden 08 cover!
LaDanian Tomlinson: Awesome. How much does it pay?
EA: Well, $200,000 and you get to go to a bunch of personal appearances to promote the game!
LT: $200,000? What’s $200,000 to me? Ain’t s%#$. Next time I might shake my… Forget it.
EA: Vince Young was our guy all along!
Vince Young: I heard you guys sell millions of copies. Isn’t that gonna take a long time for me to pose for each cover?

According to CNBC, Tomlinson turned down the cover not because of the curse but because it didn’t pay his market value. Most athletes are willing to go below their market price because of the prestige of the Madden cover but not LT. He wanted his money. Of course LT didn’t turn it down because of the curse. Professional athletes think they’re invinceable so they’ll be the one who avoids the curse. However, when Vince Young goes down this year, Saints fans will pay Reggie Bush so he doesn’t sign when the EA folks approach him for Madden 09.

Links:
[CNBC]: Tomlinson Turns Down Madden, Rutgers Coach Cashes In, No Texting & Another MJ

Categories
Video Games

Madden 2007 is trying to wreck Shaun Alexander’s season



Sorry Seattle fans

EA Sports announced that Shaun Alexander, the Seattle Seahawks $62M man is going to be on the cover of Madden 2007. Seattle fans and Mike Holmgren are already cursing EA but Shaun is just happy to collect the big endorsement check.


To be on the cover of Madden NFL 07 is a big milestone in my career since I have always been a huge fan of this franchise. EA SPORTS is focusing on the running game in this year’s version, so I was honored when I was chosen to be on the cover to represent the improved running game.

We’ll see what Alexander has to say when he becomes the latest victim of the Madden cover jinx. Here’s the easiest Fantasy Football advice you’re going to get: DO NOT take Shaun Alexander with your first round pick.

Oh, the jinx is very real folks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Vegas odds for Seattle winning the Super Bowl just dropped in half. Here’s a rundown of covers and actual performance since Eddie George in 2001.

  • 2001 Eddie George: His jinx took a year to kick in but his rushing production went from 1509 yards to 939 the year after appearing on the cover.
  • 2002 Daunte Culpepper: Daunte went from fantasy stud (33 TDs and 3937 yards) to fantasy dud (14 TDs and 2612 yards) and finally succumbed to a knee injury.
  • 2003 Marshall Faulk: Total production went from 2147 to 1490 all purpose yards, a 44% decrease. The Rams went from Super Bowl runner up to 7-9.
  • 2004 Michael Vick: Broke his ankle in a preseason game. The quickest jinx in Madden history.
  • 2005 Ray Lewis: Ray Lewis avoids the cover jinx… because he was just standing there.. didn’t see a thing. Nope. Didn’t see a thing.
  • 2006 Donovan McNabb: DMac got into a highly publicized feud with Terrell Owens and then had his season cut short by a sports hernia.

So what’s in store for Shaun Alexander? Here are the official SC odds:

  • 5-1 Torn ACL or MCL
  • 4-1 Ankle injury
  • 3-1 Sharp decline in production
  • 20-1 Broken ankle on horse collar tackle
  • 50-1 no injury
  • 100-1 Breaks hand while washing his truck

Links:
[Video Game Generation]: Seahawks MVP Shaun Alexandar Soars on Madden NFL 07 Cover