(Please note, the above box art is simply my own "artist's rendition" of what the box art could be.)

One of the more over-hyped annual gaming announcements is which  NFL player is going to be featured on the cover of Madden football. Or rather, which NFL player is going to end up with a seson ending injury as a result of the so-called "Madden Curse" (Ooooo... spooooky!) The way the story goes is that a succession of players - Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Mike Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb- have all been doomed to either injury or dminishing returns by having their picture on a video game cover.

Well this year EA decided to nip that old wives' tale right in the bud. For the first time ever, the cover of Madden will be graced by a player who won't be on any team's roster at the beginning of the season: legendary Packers' QB Brett Favre.

Now, it's obvious that since Favre will be watching all of the Packers games this year from atop his 90 ft. pile of gold and jewels he isn't likely to get injured. And since he has already had a career comprable with the greatest names in NFL quarterbacks, it would be tough to say that this appearance could hurt his numbers. However, I would like to add that I'm glad they waited until Favre retired to give him the cover- this guy started 275 straight games (including playoffs)- just in case there is anything to that whole curse thing, it would have been a damn shame.

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