Saquon Barkley had one of the nastiest moves ever in a football game across any level. EA Sports, the game developer for the popular Madden franchise, decided they wanted to memorialize that moment and Barkley’s historic season by naming him the cover athlete for the latest edition of the virtual NFL game.
It’s official. Saquon Barkley is on the cover of Madden 26. pic.twitter.com/amAdQNIXN0
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 2, 2025
He certainly earned the right to be the face of Madden 26. With it comes the infamous Madden curse. Call it a myth if you want, but it’s not always a good thing to be the cover athlete of the upcoming Madden game, which typically releases late summer ahead of the new season.
Eagles fans now have 'Madden curse' to worry about with Saquon Barkley cover announcement
According to CBS Sports, since 2000, the cover athlete has been “cursed” the ensuing season 60 percent of the time and 32 percent since 2014.
The good news, Eagles fans, is there hasn't been a back-to-back Madden curse since 2011 and 2012 editions of the game. So with Christian McCaffrey’s curse last season, Barkley should be safe. Then again, he made history last year on the field, he could be on the wrong side of history via the Madden franchise this year.
Last season, Barkley's historic season featured 2,005 rushing yards, a career high for him and franchise record for the Eagles. He also had 13 rushing touchdowns. This comes four years after he tore his ACL in 2020. He was also an MVP finalist last year and named the Offensive player of the year.
Can Saquon Barkley escape the Madden Curse? History says no.
Along with McCaffrey, other notable curses include Antonio Brown. While his cover year wasn't bad, the following season he was a cancer to the locker room and hopped around three teams. In 2021, Brown took himself out of a game while heading to the locker room shirtless before never playing an NFL snap again.
Rob Gronkowski was cursed in the 2017 season after missing 10 games due to a hamstring injury and herniated disk injury. The longest stretch of Madden cover athlete curses was from 2006 to 2012, which included Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander, Vince Young, Brett Favre and Drew Brees.
Since that stretch, the Madden curse has been a little less prevalent, though it has claimed some victims. Last year, it captured McCaffrey and Barkley is looking to buck that trend.