News broke Thursday morning that Green Bay Packers mainstay (and now former NFL retiree) Brett Favre would be traded to the New York Jets.
Unfortunately for EA Sports, Madden NFL 09 is launching next week, and the cover is plastered with the image of Favre donning The Green and Gold.
EA Sports had great intentions--the 17-season Favre announced his retirement in March, and the game maker saw fit to honor the QB with a cover appearance on an iteration of the world's most popular football franchise (aside from "honor," we're sure Favre received a couple bucks, too).
Three months later, he said he wanted to play for Green Bay again, but the team had already committed to Aaron Rodgers as its starting quarterback, a situation that led Favre to the Jets.
So now, it would seem, EA Sports is stuck with an already out-dated cover, less than one week before Madden 09 launches. But the company has already updated its Madden NFL 09 website with the image of Favre in a Jets uniform, so the publisher is most likely on top of the cover situation as well.
We've contacted EA for comment.
For the uninitiated, the "Madden Curse" is the theory that NFL players who appear on the cover of EA Sports' Madden Football franchise end up with some kind of "bad luck" during the following season.
For example (thanks to StarPulse.com):
2001: Titan's Eddie George - statistically poor season, didn't make playoffs (this is the year after the Titans were in the Superbowl)
2004: Falcon's Michael Vick - broke leg in pre-season, found guilty of organizing dog-fighting, in jail.
2006: Eagles' Donovan McNabb - season-ending hernia, finished 5-11.
2007: Seahawks' Shaun Alexander - broke foot early in season.
(There's more evidence of the Madden Curse in years in between.)
We'll see how Favre does at New York to see if the curse holds true for 2009, but for now, EA is apparently the victim this time around.
[UPDATE] EA Sports boss Peter Moore states in his blog, "Madden NFL 09 will hit stores next Tuesday with Brett wearing his Packers green and gold, as we celebrate his legacy as one of the great QBs to ever play the game and someone’s who’s been with us from the early days of John Madden Football."
He added that EA Sports will issue a roster patch before the release of the game to put Favre on the correct team.
MTV Multiplayer adds that EA Sports will offer a free downloadable replacement cover for the game as well.