Patrick Mahomes reportedly suffered a dislocated kneecap during the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday, appearing to show that one infamous hex is still lingering in the NFL.
The dreaded “Madden” curse has plagued NFL superstars who have been on the cover of the video game for years and Mahomes, the cover star of this year’s installment of the video game franchise, appears to be the latest victim.
Patrick Mahomes makes the cover of @EAMaddenNFL 2020. pic.twitter.com/wSK9czykpj
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) April 25, 2019
Mahomes was coming off an NFL MVP season and 12-4 record as the Chiefs QB in 2018, throwing for a league-leading 50 touchdown passes. Mahomes was having a solid season through six-and-a-half games, leading the NFL with 2,180 passing yards and 15 touchdown passes.
It all came into an end Thursday when it appeared he suffered a devastating knee injury against the Broncos. However, the NFL Network reported that Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap and might be able to play through it after three weeks of rest.
I’m no doctor, but that looked a lot like they just had to pop Mahomes’ knee(cap) back into place.
Ouch pic.twitter.com/v8nZi3dbuz
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 18, 2019
It wasn’t the first time the “Madden” curse struck this season.
NFL fans blamed the jinx for derailing Antonio Brown’s career. He was on the cover of “Madden 19” for last year’s installment of the game. While Brown had a good year for the Pittsburgh Steelers, his rift with teammates led the organization to trade him.
He then suffered a frostbite mishap during the offseason, and ironically enough “Madden 19” used a Frostbite graphics engine to “make you feel like you’re in the game every time you pick up the sticks.” The engine debuted during “Madden 18,” with Tom Brady on the cover.
The “Madden” curse has been blamed for the down years and injuries of several superstars, including Rob Gronkowski, who was on the front of the 2017 installment, Michael Vick, Shaun Alexander and Vince Young. The hex’s history can be traced all the way back to 1999 when Barry Sanders was on the cover of “Madden 2000,” only to abruptly retire.
