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'Madden NFL 09' to make Brett Favre patch

By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

August 8, 2008

Brett Favre, sporting his New York Jets hat, makes his way to a private jet at Bobby Chain Municipal Airport in Hattiesburg, Miss. (RYAN MOORE, ASSOCIATED PRESS / August 7, 2008)

The Jets have seemingly spit in the face of fate by trading for the one player gracing the soon-to-be-released version of the popular "Madden NFL" video game.

The so-called "Madden Curse" affixes itself to all football players who end up on the front of the case for the game. Those unlikely ones' season almost always ends in disappointment, some times with them being carted away on a stretcher.

"Madden NFL 09," to be released Tuesday, features New York's now very own, Brett Favre.

"We don't really believe in a curse," said Katherine Coulthart, the publicist for EA Sports, which publishes the video game. "Football is a dangerous game. The guys on the cover are usually around the ball a lot. It's just coincidental that [injuries] happens a lot."

But the results are uncanny. In 2000, star running back Barry Sanders was on the cover, and suddenly retired soon after the game appeared. In 2006, Eagles quarterback, Donovan McNabb, suffered a sports hernia in the first game of the season and missed half the year. Last year, football fans in San Diego started an online petition to keep star running back LaDainian Tomlinson off the cover.

If there is any solace for Jets fans this year, it is that Favre is on the cover in a Packers uniform.

But it's a cold comfort. EA is quickly remedying the situation, and interested players will be able to download a new cover photo of Favre in a Jets jersey.

EA will also be making available a downloadable update that has Favre instead of now-departed quarterback Chad Pennington under center for the Madden Jets.