Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley has been chosen to be this year’s Madden cover athlete.
The cover of Madden 26 will feature Barkley and his jaw-dropping backwards hurdle that he pulled off over the Jacksonville Jaguars last season.
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It was a move that dropped jaws and had the NFL world talking for days.
Now it will be forever immortalized in the iconic video game.
Barkley is the first Philadelphia Eagle to grace the cover of Madden since quarterback Donovan McNabb did so in 2006.
The Super Bowl-winning RB also achieved a franchise first with Monday’s announcement.
Barkley becomes the first-ever Eagles offensive player to join the 99-Club.
His Madden rating is now at 99, an extremely rare feat.
As exciting as it is for Barkley to don the cover of one of the most popular video games, it has also left Philadelphia fans a little worried.
That is because of the infamous “Madden curse.”
The theory goes that whoever is on the cover of the newest edition of the NFL video game franchise, that player is then set to suffer a serious injury or have a subpar season the following year.
While there are a few uncanny coincidences, the curse is more of a myth these days.
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For every Antonio Brown and Peyton Hillis, there are Patrick Mahomes and Calvin Johnson.
Brown may have given the curse the most validity when he appeared on the cover in 2019.
He was coming off a season in which he had 104 receptions for 1,297 yards and a career-high 15 touchdowns.
The following season?
He only played in one game and caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Brown was never the same after that.
Eagles fans are hoping their star player avoids a similar fate.
“Here comes the Madden curse. Great run Saquon,” one fan commented on X.
“Welp, his season is over,” another fan commented.
“I still can’t believe Saquon Barkley pulled that move off. … Might be the greatest move of all time,” one more fan chimed in, with a more optimistic tone.
Eagles fans can take solace in knowing that Mahomes was on the cover three seasons ago, and immediately won the Super Bowl the following year.
The “Madden curse,” at this point, is a thing of the past.
Eagles fans should be able to breathe easier as Barkley runs toward another NFL season.
