Alright, so there were two main reactions this week for when Saquon Barkley was revealed as the "Madden 26" cover star: 'Awesome!' and 'Oh no, the cover curse!'
The Madden games have had this idea of a notorious cover curse lingering over them ever since EA started putting NFL players on the front of the box over John Madden himself some 25 years ago, and at one point, yeah, you could see the validity to it.
Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, and Michael Vick all got hurt when they were the cover stars for 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively.
Then, closer to home, Donovan McNabb went on the cover for "Madden 06" after the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl the year prior. A massive rift grew between him and star receiver Terrell Owens, the team on the whole fell apart, and a sports hernia ended McNabb's season early, leaving Mike McMahon as the Eagles' starting QB for the last seven games.
If the curse existed, then it bit McNabb and the Eagles hard.
The years since, however, have shown it to be inconsistent or maybe even negligible.
Here's a quick rundown of the past seven games and what happened to their cover stars that corresponding season:
• Madden NFL 19 (2018) – Antonio Brown: Statistically, solid. He caught a career-best 15 touchdowns. The only problem was that the Steelers were getting tired of his antics behind the scenes, which set up his exit out of Pittsburgh. He went to the Raiders after and inexplicably gave himself frostbite.
• Madden NFL 20 (2019) – Patrick Mahomes: Mahomes did dislocate his kneecap midseason, but he made it back quick. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl, and he won Super Bowl MVP. I think they were fine. But if you want to count it… there was a global pandemic right after.
• Madden NFL 21 (2020) – Lamar Jackson: He threw for 2,757 yards and 26 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,005 yards and seven more TDs. Baltimore lost in the divisional round, but Jackson made it out of that season alright.
• Madden NFL 22 (2021) – Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady: The Super Bowl QBs were both 17-game starters that next cover season, were both high-level performers, and both had their teams back in the playoffs. No curse there.
• Madden NFL 23 (2022) – John Madden: N/A.
• Madden NFL 24 (2023) – Josh Allen: Went on the cover, played the whole season, and tore straight through it. He and the Bills just ran into more playoff disappointment.
• Madden NFL 25 (2024) – Christian McCaffrey: OK, yeah, McCaffrey fell apart from injuries. Point for the curse there. However, that can also be credited to the fact that the 49ers spent the prior two seasons just running him into the ground.
So, of the recent sample size, there's a Super Bowl win and resulting Super Bowl MVP honors, mostly healthy and high-performing years, and then one for "25" that was a clear disaster. Oh, and one crazy guy.
Up front, and stating the obvious, Saquon Barkley is not Antonio Brown, and the overall chances of late indicate that he's more than likely to be fine being on the "Madden" cover than not.
Now, McCaffrey is the only running back on that above list, and came in with some seriously heavy usage. Barkley does, too, with last season's Super Bowl run, but more than anything, his ability to make it through this coming year will largely come down to how the Eagles manage his usage. It won't be whether or not you believe in curses.
A couple of other odds and ends on "Madden" and the Eagles…
Focus on the moment
The "Madden 26" cover is a recreation of Barkley's reverse hurdle that he pulled off against Jacksonville back in November.
They held him up with wires in the photoshoot to get the moment just right, but also included the tackler he went flying over in the final product. Notice, though, that there's no logo on that player's helmet nor numbers on the shoulders of his jersey.
That was at Barkley's request to EA, the running back told former Eagle Chris Long on the "Green Light" podcast, which was shot at Geno's – a.k.a Steakquon's for the week – to coincide with the "Madden" cover reveal.
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Jaguars defensive back Jarrian Jones was the one Barkley leaped over on that play, but Barkley said he didn't want that to unintentionally become a focal point on the cover. He wanted to highlight the moment, he explained to Long, not who he did it against.
"Obviously, you can see some type of player," Barkley said. "But we made sure – and I want to give credit to Madden here, too, having the conversation with them – the play's been shown enough. He probably took enough jabs, and we don't need to try to bring any more attention to that.
"Obviously, we know what the play was, but Madden did a really good job, I felt like, of really focusing on the moment and the play itself rather than against the individual it was."
So anyway, EA proceeded to put out the first in-game trailer for "Madden 26" on Wednesday morning, which featured a recreated look of the reverse hurdle from Barkley's point of view.
Brutal lol https://t.co/irhk5YUDlr pic.twitter.com/3JDI8guCIN
— Nick Tricome (@itssnick) June 4, 2025
Brutal.
You can check out that trailer below, and watch or listen to the full "Green Light" interview with Barkley HERE.
Darby hangs 'em up
Cornerback Ronald Darby retired from football earlier this week after 10 NFL seasons, which included one major one in Philadelphia.
The Eagles acquired him through a late summer trade with Buffalo for former receiver Jordan Matthews and a draft pick just ahead of the 2017 season, and helped to put their defensive backfield just enough over the top to set into the motion the underdog run to that first Super Bowl title.
Darby made three picks and nine pass breakups that miracle season.
When word broke of his retirement, Eagles fans on social media called back to the block he threw on Patrick Robinson's pick-six in the NFC Championship, where he went flying about four yards back but got the job done nonetheless.
CB Ronald Darby is officially retiring after ten seasons. Will always be remembered for his block on Patrick Robinson’s pick-six. pic.twitter.com/7AjtMmsPSR
— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) June 2, 2025
A slightly smoother memory: Two weeks later and with 12 seconds left on the Patriots' final drive in Super Bowl 52. Darby jumped the route Tom Brady was looking for along the left sideline. The pass sailed right into Darby's hands, but it fell to the ground for the incompletion instead.
Still, it took precious ticks off the clock with New England at midfield and down eight. They had no other choice but to take a shot downfield.
That hit the ground, too, with no time left.
And Philadelphia, finally, had its Super Bowl title.
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