Cleveland Browns Peyton Hillis Scores Cover of Madden NFL 12
April 27, 2011 | Sports
The Cover of Nadden NFL 12 will feature the running back from the Clevelaqnd Browns Peyton Hillis. For the first time in Madden history the fans were allowed to vote in a 32 player bracket. Votes the size of American Idol with over 13 million being cast and over a million on the last round that featured Hillis and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.
An Excited Hillis collected 66% of the vote to beat Vick claining he has always looked up to him. Hillis recognized the support from the Cleveland fans that showed support on the Browns website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
The “Madden Cover” curse scares most players that receive the honor of being on the front of one of the most popular sports video games. Here is a quick rundown of the person, cover year and problems he has had after acheiving cover status.
Eddie George (2001) never averaged more than 3.3 yards a carry for the rest of his career. Daunte Culpepper(2002) Threw 23 interception, broke the record for most fumbles in a single season. Blew out both knees in 2005. Marshal Faulk (2003) Started 21 out of 32 games from 2002-2003 and underwent knee surgery in 2005 and retired the same year. Michael Vick (2004) Broke his leg in pre-season and missed the first 12 games. Ray Lewis (2005) Broke his wrist in week 15 and first season never to have an interception. Donovan McNabb (2006) Suffered a sports hernia in the first game of season before he tore an ACL a few games later ending his season. Shaun Alexander (2007) Foot injury causing him to miss six starts and he never return to stats like for 2007. Vince Young (2008) Missed one game because of a minor injury but didn’t imporve from 2006 performances. Brett Favre (2009) Lead the league in interceptions (22) with the Jets although on the cover as a retired Green Bay Packer. Farve later admitted to a torn bicep which may have caused the 9 interceptions in the last five games of the season. Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu (2010) Polamalu sprained his ACL in the first half of the season opener and missed the first four games. After returning to play three more games he pulled a ligament and missed more games. Fitzgerald put up career high stats and only missed the Pro Bowl with a rib injury.
The lesson learned is to avoid the curse be on the cover with someone else that will take on all the injuries.
This article was written by: Steve Kramer
