The cover athlete for Madden 2027 has been revealed. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will be featured in this year’s edition. If you’re like me, you don’t think this is necessarily great news, as the unveiling brings us back to the age-old question, at least in the world of football.
Is there really a Madden curse?
Well, let’s go through every cover athlete since the birth of the popular game in 1999. Was there a curse or was it just coincidence? Go down memory lane with me and let's figure it out.
🥶 The Iceman arrives.
— Madden NFL 27 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 3, 2026
Your #Madden27 Deluxe Edition cover is here.
Full reveal Thursday, 6/4 at 8 PM ET
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1999: Garrison Hearst
Hearst was the first athlete to appear on a Madden cover (John Madden himself appeared on the cover in previous seasons). The veteran rushed for a career-best 1,570 yards and seven touchdowns in the 1998 regular season, but Hearst sustained a serious ankle injury in the postseason and did not return to action until the 2001 campaign.
The curse begins…
2000: Barry Sanders and Dorsey Levens
Sanders was named the Madden cover athlete for the 2000 edition, but he later retired. Levens replaced Sanders on the cover, and he had a successful 1999 campaign with over 1,600 scrimmage yards and a RB4 finish based on fantasy points. He did, however, deal with injuries the rest of his NFL career, never rushing for more than 411 yards after 1999.
2001: Eddie George
George avoided the curse in 2000, recording career bests in rushing yards (1,509) and total touchdowns (16). However, in 2001, George had a career-low 939 rushing yards with five touchdowns. He averaged a mediocre 876 yards in his final three seasons of his NFL career after averaging 1,375 yards in his first five.
2002: Daunte Culpepper
Culpepper earned an appearance on the cover after recording 3,937 passing yards, 470 rushing yards and 40 total touchdowns in 2000. Those totals helped him rank as the QB2 in fantasy leagues. However, the curse struck in 2001. He missed the final five weeks due to an injured knee and finished with 2,612 passing yards, 416 rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns. That made him one of the bigger fantasy busts based on those totals.
2003: Marshall Faulk
A Hall of Fame and superstar fantasy football running back, Faulk was a machine before he donned the 2003 cover. An injured ankle cost him two contests in 2002, and he failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time since 1996. Faulk never reached the 1,000-yard mark again, and his numbers declined in each season after his appearance on the Madden cover.
2004: Michael Vick
Even an explosive athlete like Vick couldn't elude the Madden curse, as he sustained a broken right fibula in a preseason game against the Ravens and was forced to miss the first 11 contests of the regular season. He was able to make just five starts, and Vick finished with a modest 585 passing yards, 255 rushing yards and five touchdowns. The curse struck, once again.
2005: Ray Lewis
Lewis was the first defensive athlete to be featured on the cover, but he also fell victim to the curse, nonetheless. The All-Pro linebacker missed one start in 2004 due to a broken wrist and failed to record an interception for the first time in his professional career (he had a career-best six interceptions in 2003). He also missed 10 starts due to various injuries in 2005.
2006: Donovan McNabb
McNabb led the Eagles to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX and was on the cover of the 2006 edition of Madden. It was the start of two consecutive injury-plagued campaigns. McNabb sustained a sports hernia during the first week of the 2005 season, but to his credit, he attempted to play. Unfortunately, he bowed out after just nine starts. The curse also seemed to strike him in 2006, as McNabb missed six weeks with an injured knee.
2007: Shaun Alexander
Alexander had one of the best statistical seasons ever in 2005, rushing for 1,880 yards and scoring a record 28 touchdowns. Unfortunately, the curse took its toll the following season when he broke his foot in Week 3. He had missed one start in his previous 64 contests. The former fantasy superstar would go on to miss six starts, and he failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time since 2000. Alexander’s statistical career went downhill from there.
2008: Vince Young
Young had a tremendous rookie season for the Titans, leading to an appearance on the 2008 Madden cover. But he had a brutal sophomore year, throwing nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions while finishing as the QB17 in fantasy leagues. That’s eight spots worse than his rookie year. He also sustained a quadriceps injury that caused him to miss his first game due to an injury. He finished his career as an NFL backup.
2009: Brett Favre
The "Madden curse" appeared to be over heading into 2008, as a retired Favre graced the cover in a Packers uniform. He eventually returned after a trade to the Jets, but his numbers decreased across the board (not a surprise). That was due in part to a right biceps injury that caused what would become his second "retirement."
2010: Larry Fitzgerald/Troy Polamalu
This is the first time the Madden cover featured two players. While Fitzgerald did sustain a knee injury, it didn't keep him out of action. He also finished the 2009 season with a career-best 13 touchdowns. However, Polamalu missed 11 games due to an injured knee. The Steelers, winners of Super Bowl XLIII, didn’t make the playoffs without him.
2011: Drew Brees
Brees did have a nice 2010 season statistically, throwing for 4,620 yards and 33 touchdowns. However, he played almost the entire year with a medial collateral ligament injury. The veteran also threw a career-high 22 interceptions, which could probably be blamed on his playing at less than 100 percent. While the impact on Brees's career wasn't very severe, you can still argue that the curse did strike him, at least to some degree.
2012: Peyton Hillis
Hillis, who told me in an interview while I was at the NFL Network that he didn’t believe in the curse, changed his tune after being on the cover. After posting monster totals in 2010, Hillis missed six games due to injuries and experienced statistical drops across the board the following season. Was the cover curse to blame? Well, even Hillis believes it played a part!
2013: Calvin Johnson
Johnson, the first wideout to ever appear on the Madden cover by himself, was also the first prominent example of how the curse wasn’t always in play. He had 1,964 yards, setting an NFL record that still stands, and he set or tied records for 100-yard receiving games. While he had just five touchdowns, Megatron was still the No. 1 wideout in fantasy football.
2014: Adrian Peterson
Peterson earned a spot on the Madden cover after a miraculous return to action eight months after major knee reconstruction in 2012. He rushed for 2,097 yards, ranking as the top running back in fantasy football. He struggled through a bum foot for most of 2013, however, missing two games in the process. To his credit, Peterson still rushed for 1,266 yards with 10 touchdowns and finished as the RB11, but he still saw significant statistical declines.
2015: Richard Sherman
Sherman dodged the curse, recording four interceptions and 57 tackles while helping the Seahawks reach Super Bowl XLIX, where they lost to the Patriots, 28–24.
2016: Odell Beckham Jr.
Beckham broke onto the fantasy scene as a rookie, posting 91 catches, 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those impressive totals earned him an appearance on the 2016 Madden cover. Curse be damned, as OBJ was even better in 2015 en route to a top-five finish among wideouts based on fantasy points. If Beckham has been cursed during his career, it was due to his move to the Browns. He was never the same player, but it wasn’t because of the curse.
2017: Rob Gronkowski
Gronkowski had huge totals in 2015, posting 72 catches for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns. The curse did seem to strike him the following season, as he missed the first two games with an injured hamstring and ultimately missed a total of eight games. The big man finished with just 540 yards with three touchdowns and wasn’t a top 25 fantasy tight end.
2018: Tom Brady
Come on, folks, did anyone really think the Madden cover could curse the GOAT? He had great success in 2017, throwing for more than 4,500 yards, 32 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. That was good enough to finish as the QB3 based on fantasy points. Brady’s Patriots did lose to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII, but it wasn’t his fault. He threw for a record 505 yards and three touchdowns in the exciting 41–33 defeat. Clearly, Brady was curse-proof.
2019: Antonio Brown
Brown was in the prime of his career when he was on the Madden cover and was considered the top wideout in fantasy football. The appearance didn’t slow him down, as he put up 104 catches, 1,297 yards and a career-best 15 touchdowns in 2018. Things went sideways after that, as he had reported issues with Ben Roethlisberger and was traded to the Raiders. He never played a down for Oakland, and off-field incidents ultimately limited Brown to just 16 games the rest of his career, including an odd stint with the Buccaneers.
2020: Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes had the best fantasy season of all time among quarterbacks in 2018, putting up 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns. He wasn’t nearly as good after being on the Madden cover, however, missing two games with an injured knee and throwing for 1,066 fewer yards and 24 fewer touchdowns. Of course, Mahomes went on to lead the Chiefs to a huge win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, so he was still successful despite his decreased stats.
2021: Lamar Jackson
Jackson was on pace to finish with more fantasy points than Mahomes in 2019, but he was held out of the regular-season finale. In all, he had 3,127 passing yards, another 1,206 rushing yards and 43 total touchdowns (seven rushing). While Jackson wasn’t what you would call a “bust” in 2020, he saw notable declines in passing yards and touchdown passes while finishing a full nine spots lower among quarterbacks based on fantasy points. Cursed? You decide.
2022: Tom Brady/Patrick Mahomes
The 2022 cover featured both Brady and Mahomes, and it didn’t affect either of their stats. In fact, they finished fourth and fifth in fantasy points among quarterbacks, respectively. At this point, the influence of the curse was starting to wane.
2023: John Madden
EA Sports decided to use John Madden on the 2023 cover after his death in 2021.
2024: Josh Allen
The curse appeared to be all but dead. Allen threw for 4,306 yards with 29 touchdown passes, while adding another 524 rushing yards and 15 rushing scores. He finished first in fantasy points among quarterbacks with an impressive 392.6 points (23.1 PPG).
2025: Christian McCaffrey
Did the curse start to rear its ugly head again? McCaffrey was on the cover a year after posting nearly 400 fantasy points in the previous season. CMC would go on to play just four games in 2024, as injuries sidelined him for most of the year. He also averaged just 12 points in those four games, which was half of what he averaged in 2023. He did bounce back last season, but it seemed as if CMC was still cursed.
2026: Saquon Barkley
Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024, winning the Offensive Player of the Year award and leading the Eagles to a win in Super Bowl LIX. Those accomplishments landed him on last year’s cover, and if you had him in fantasy … well, you know things went south. He rushed for 865 fewer yards, six fewer touchdowns and scored 123 fewer fantasy points.
Alright, let’s tally things up. Of the 28 players who have been on the Madden cover (Brady and Mahomes twice), there have been 15 instances of a player either getting hurt or seeing his stats decline significantly that season. That includes the past two years with McCaffrey and Barkley. Several others experienced similar fates the year after being on the cover.
So, will Caleb Williams being on the cover of Madden 2027 be a red flag when your’re deciding to draft him, or is this curse a bunch of hogwash with no real influence anymore?
That’s up to you to decide.
