The moment the cover dropped—Saquon Barkley in midnight green, mid-stride, eyes fixed downfield—Eagles fans reacted like they’d just seen a highlight and a premonition rolled into one. Barkley had earned it. Over 2,000 scrimmage yards. A playoff gauntlet that ended with a Lombardi. A perfect fit in Philadelphia’s backfield, where explosiveness met purpose.
Now, he’s the face of Madden 26. But alongside the applause came an uneasy question that’s followed NFL stars for more than two decades: Is the Madden Curse still alive? And if it is… is Barkley next?
It’s concerning. Because Barkley, fresh off a historic season that ranks among the greatest ever for an NFL running back, totaled an astounding 2,504 rushing yards, combining regular season and playoffs. Though he came up just 101 yards short of Eric Dickerson’s regular-season rushing record, the Eagles opted to rest their starters in the final game against Barkley’s former team, the Giants, prioritizing postseason health. That strategy paid dividends, as Barkley exploded for 499 yards and five touchdowns in the playoffs, fueling Philadelphia’s march to their second Super Bowl title. And Barkley still believes there’s a lot more to come. But now, there seems to be a target on his back, and yet, the 28-year-old isn’t worried about becoming the latest victim of the proverbial curse.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network’s The Insiders asked Barkley if he believed in curses, especially the one tied to being featured on the Madden cover. “Nah, I’m a believer in God,” Barkley replied. “That’s my mindset, to be completely honest. I’ve had injuries before. I tore my knee, I stepped on a foot and rolled my ankle and was out 4-to-6 weeks, and there was no curse then, that’s just how life works. You’re gonna have your ups and downs, but my mindset is coming in, work, do what I need to do, and the rest is in God’s hands.”
From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: Saquon Barkley joined the show, fresh off landing the @EAMaddenNFL cover, to discuss his hurdle, the #Eagles repeating, and the not-so-dreaded curse. pic.twitter.com/EyBK0MxLId
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 3, 2025
The so-called curse is one of the NFL’s enduring superstitions. A myth cemented not by marketing departments, but by the wear and tear of football reality. It started as more of a joke than anything else, but it’s stuck around for over two decades now.
It traces back to the late ‘90s, when Garrison Hearst was the first player to appear on the Madden cover in 1999. Hearst had just had a great season with the 49ers but then tore up his ankle in the playoffs, an injury so serious it kept him off the field for two full years.
Take Peyton Hillis, whose breakout 2010 campaign with Cleveland made him the people’s choice for Madden 12. After a breakout season with the Browns, he graced the cover and laughed off the infamous curse, saying, “Actually, I don’t even believe in curses… I’m a Christian man, and I don’t believe anything could be put in front of me that God can’t take away.” A bruising runner and a surprise star, Hillis seemed built for the moment. But the following year unraveled fast: contract drama, hamstring issues, missed time. He would never again eclipse 600 rushing yards in a season. Years later, even Hillis, initially a vocal skeptic, conceded, “There are a few things that happened this year that made me believe in curses. Ain’t no doubt about it.”
Since then, every time someone lands the Madden cover, there’s been a quiet, sometimes not-so-quiet expectation that their next season won’t go smoothly. There was Rob Gronkowski, who entered the 2016 season as the most dominant tight end in football. Weeks after appearing on Madden 17, he suffered a hamstring injury, then a lung contusion, then a herniated disc that ended his season by December. His team won the Super Bowl—but without him on the field. More recently, Christian McCaffrey, the Madden 25 cover athlete following an OPOY season in San Francisco, played in just four games in 2024 and landed on injured reserve twice. Josh Allen, the face of Madden 24, led the league in turnovers with a career-high 18 interceptions.
But it’s not all doom. Patrick Mahomes, twice a cover athlete, broke the curse not once, but twice. His Madden 20 season ended with a Super Bowl title. His joint Madden 22 cover with Tom Brady saw him reach another AFC Championship. Odell Beckham Jr., the Madden 16 face, followed his cover year with 96 catches and 13 touchdowns. And Tom Brady, at 44, threw 43 touchdowns the year he was featured.
So maybe the curse isn’t universal. But it is selective. And that uncertainty is enough to make Barkley’s placement on the cover feel like a test of something deeper than superstition. Barkley isn’t dwelling on what might go wrong. He’s focused on what comes next, and he’s not the only one.
Saquon Barkley and the guys are hungry for the next season
The Eagles kicked off their OTAs last week, but their training sessions were interrupted due to persistent rain in South Philadelphia. Philly shifted their 82-minute voluntary OTA session inside the NovaCare Complex’s practice bubble. The NFL legend, and current analyst at NFL Network, Brian Baldinger, was available at the facility. And get this, he was mesmerized after watching the players’ hunger at the practice.
“That was a spirited OTA practice, Saquon, like the energy level, I know it was indoors, but it felt like you guys are hungry,” he said to Barkley. And that’s when the 28-year-old running back shed light on the Eagles’ culture ahead of the 2025 season for his teammates and the rookies who just joined in. “It’s been great, it’s been great,” Barkley noted. “We’ve got guys coming in and buying in, training really hard, competing at a high level. The young guys that we drafted and then we brought in, you know, they’re buying into the culture, right from the beginning.”
Barkley explained that after winning the Super Bowl earlier this year, Nick Sirianni and Co. know the recipe to replicate the same winning season as well. Having said that, the indoor OTAs were the same thing as well. “We know what it takes. So we can’t skip any steps to get to where we want to get to. And last OTA? It was the same thing. And we already know how training camp is going to be,” he added. “And we know how it’s going to be during the season.”
Following the wrap-up of the 2025 NFL draft, the Eagles went home with the likes of Jihaad Campbell, Andrew Mukuba, Ty Robinson, you name it. And yes, these young guys, along with the vets, are gearing up to contribute to the Eagles’ winning culture in the upcoming season.
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