Philadelphia has summited yet another sports mountaintop. Saquon Barkley is on the cover of Madden 26. It’s awesome. The man is in full Kelly Green, soaring through the air on that reverse hurdle from last season, front and center on the most iconic football game out there.
And yet… here come the weirdos.
“Oh no, the Madden curse!”
“Remember what happened to McNabb!”
“Should we be worried?!”
We can’t do that.
Let me say this as clearly as possible: curses aren’t real. This isn’t Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. There is no ancient spell haunting NFL players who appear on the front of a video game box. We are talking about Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles – the defending world champions – not some cursed village in a fantasy novel.
Honestly, I don’t even want that kind of energy anywhere near this team. You know who’s afraid of curses? Losers…and also the entire Italian side of my family..but the ones they’re worried about are the real deal, not some fake video game curse.
You know what, I’m getting off track here, but my point still stands. Saquon Barkley is a football demon, curses are afraid of him, if anything.
Let’s run it back real quick. The so-called “Madden curse” dates back to the early 2000s when guys like Culpepper, Faulk, and Vick got banged up after being on the cover. Fine. We’ve heard the stories.
Since then, the results have been much different.
Mahomes won a Super Bowl after being on the cover.
Lamar Jackson was impacted in the slightest.
Brady and Mahomes were both cover athletes and balled out again.
Josh Allen was just fine.
Even last year’s pick, McCaffrey, had been on borrowed time with his injury history.
This is the NFL. It’s a violent sport. Guys get hurt. That’s not a curse, it’s reality.
And now we’re going to drag this nonsense into an Eagles season where we’re running it back with a loaded roster, elite quarterback, stacked defense, and fresh energy?
No thanks. Not for me, mate.
The vibes in Philly are too good right now to be tainted by some internet message board curse talk so please, say it with me out loud: Saquon Barkley is going to be just fine.
If anything, Barkley’s cover is a great sign. It’s the national spotlight this team deserves. And he even handled the cover shoot like a pro, telling EA not to put Jarrian Jones (the defender he hurdled) front and center because he didn’t want to embarrass anyone.
That’s good guy energy from Saquon Barkley and quite honestly, that’s championship-level mindset every player on the Eagles roster should have as we head into the dawg days of Summer.
Let’s focus on managing Saquon Barkley’s workload, keeping the offense humming, and going after another ring. Leave the curses for the fantasy books and Halloween movies.
This is the fighting city of Philadelphia. This is real football and the World Champions reside here — let’s act like it.