Dodged that one? No LA Rams players appear on Madden 23 cover

Okay, we’ve had some pretty tough topics tossed at you about the LA Rams for the first day of the month of June 2022. Too deep? Perhaps not. But this is the first day of the summer months when football is still a vision on the horizon, and the days are spent planning vacations, relaxing, and when to crack open a cold one…

So perhaps a slice of something lighter is in order right now, right?  Something like whose image is or is not on the latest release of Madden? That’s right, we are now up to Madden 23, the 23rd version of the all-time standard of the NFL football simulation game.

Ah, but the game is both a boon and a bane. You see, while the game can trigger long and prolonged debates into the wee hours of whether the relative ranking of players is appropriate based on their real-world performance, there is also a specter that comes with the image of an NFL player on the game’s cover. It’s known as ‘The Madden Curse,’ and it has become an urban legend.

It began when running back Garrison Hearst appeared on the cover of Madden 99, and then proceeded to break his ankle. That has begun a trend of terror among NFL fans, best described by Digital Trends Steve Petite and Rick Marshall:

"‘Of the 22 players who have been selected to grace the cover of Madden games, 16 have had troubling or abruptly shortened seasons following their cover debut — including several who suffered season-ending injuries shortly after their game hit shelves.’"

So an injury run rate of 16 out of 22, or 73 percent, seems to confirm that there is something to the curse, doesn’t it? Well, legit or not, that has been a concern that has been openly expressed by LA Rams fans in social media. Would Cooper Kupp appear on the cover? Would Matthew Stafford appear on the cover? Would Aaron Donald appear on the cover? Would  it be Bobby Wagner? Allen Robinson? Jalen Ramsey?

Thankfully, not one of these scenarios came to pass.

The LA Rams are not out of the woods with Madden 23 just yet. There is a host of debatable player grades of the Rams roster, and how the Rams players compare to other NFL players. But, we can save that for another time.

It’s June 1st, the weather is heating up. Go pop a cold one and relax. You’ve earned it.