6. The Madden Curse
Since 1999, the Madden series of American Football games has included one of the NFL's top players on its front cover, and while this should be considered a grand honour, there is a feeling among some fans that this actually constitutes a curse, as many featured players have had a severe career decline afterwards, or suffered a painful injury. EA Sports have themselves even commented on the widespread phenomenon, noting, "The players don't believe in the curse." Like any mystical murmur, it's easily dismissed as coincidence, or even something much more logical, that the players selected for the cover are exclusively strong performers, and as such, it's not uncommon that they're going to under-perform from that level the next year. Furthermore, think of the psychology; if you've just won a Superbowl, you're likely to be more relaxed and complacent out on the field, because you're not as hungry, and that's how injuries can happen.