So, for years, since the first year that Madden did not embrace the cover of the Madden Franchise, the player featured on the cover seemed to be injured in some kind of way. Here is what Wikipedia says about each year: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden_NFL#Madden_NFL_25

Actual text: 

   Prior to 1999, every annual installment of the Madden NFL series primarily featured Madden on its cover. In 1999, Electronic Arts selected Garrison Hearst to appear on the PAL version's cover, and has since featured one of the league’s top players on every annual installment despite Madden's opposition.
   While appearing on the cover has become an honor akin to appearing on the Wheaties box, much like the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx, certain players who appeared on Madden video game box art have experienced a decline in performance, usually due to an injury.
   Garrison Hearst appearing on the 1999 PAL cover was known to be the "start" of the curse, as after his appearance, he broke his ankle and was out for two seasons, and his performance was never the same.
   After Barry Sanders' appearance on the 2000 cover, Sanders abruptly retired before training camp, falling just short of the record for most career rushing yards.
   Dorsey Levens appeared on the PAL version of the 2000 game, and the Green Bay Packers, whom Levens was playing for at the time, failed to make the playoffs, and Levens was eventually released the year later.
   After Eddie George appeared on the 2001 cover, the Tennessee Titans lost in the divisional round in the 2001 playoffs. Late in the 4th quarter with the Titans down 17–10, a Steve McNair pass was bobbled by George and intercepted by Ray Lewis for a touchdown, sealing the game. George also never averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry for the rest of his career. 
   Daunte Culpepper led the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs in 2000, but after appearing on the Madden 2002 cover, he threw 23 interceptions as the Vikings slumped to a 5–11 record. He also broke the record for most fumbles in a single season. While his career looked to be back on track in 2004 with a career season, he blew out both knees in 2005 and 2006 and never resembled the player he was at the start of the decade.
   Marshall Faulk appeared on the 2003 cover, and his career (and the success of the St. Louis Rams) severely declined afterwards. He did not register another 1,000 yard rushing season and his yards per carry average dropped from a consistent 5.4 over the previous three years to 4.5 in 2002 and 4.0 in 2003 and 2004. He started 21 out of a possible 32 games from 2002–2003 as knee injuries got the better of him. He underwent reconstructive knee surgery in 2005 and retired that same year. Since 2007, the Rams have a record of 15–65.
   After appearing on the cover of Madden NFL 2004, Michael Vick broke his fibula in a pre-season game against the Baltimore Ravens and the Atlanta Falcons went 5–11. Years later it was discovered that he participated in an illegal dog-fighting ring and he was sent to prison. 
   Ray Lewis, 2005 cover athlete and middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, had his season cut short in week 15 with a wrist injury. It was also Lewis' first season without an interception.
   In 2006, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb tore his ACL and meniscus in his right knee while jumping out of bounds in a game versus the Tennessee Titans, ending his season. McNabb also suffered a sports hernia in the first game of the season.
   Running back Shaun Alexander, then the league's reigning Most Valuable Player, was featured on the cover of Madden NFL 07, and sustained a foot injury that caused him to miss six starts. As a result, Alexander’s rushing statistics were substantially less than those from the previous season, and he never returned to true form. Alexander himself has asked, “Do you want to be hurt and on the cover, or just hurt?"
   In 2007, GameSpot and CNBC reported that a large number of LaDainian Tomlinson's fans, who believed in the Madden Curse, were strongly opposed to EA Sports' initial decision to feature him on the 2008 cover, so much that a fan created SaveLTfromMadden.com to voice their disdain. Tomlinson eventually declined the offer, but stated it was solely due to contract negotiations.
   Madden NFL 08's cover featured Vince Young, the starting quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. Young missed one game of the 2007 season due to a minor injury, but for the rest of the season was roughly even with his 2006 performance. When Young appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! To officially announce that he would appear on the cover of Madden NFL 08, he derided allegations of becoming the curse’s next victim, and stated, “I've done prayed about it and we're gonna go home and try to get to the playoffs and try to get to the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens."  In contrast, Young suffered longer-term injuries in 2008 (from which he successfully came back in 2009) and 2010, which, combined with a coaching dispute, led to his departure from the Titans prior to the 2011 season.
   Luis Castillo appeared on the Spanish version of Madden NFL 08, and broke his tibia during the first game of the 2011 NFL season. He was released by the San Diego Chargers for the second time on July 19, 2012.
   Brett Favre appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 2009 as a Green Bay Packer, under the impression that Favre was retired. However, shortly after the decision, Favre came back out of retirement and was traded to the New York Jets, where he was plagued by poor on-field performance and an off-field sexual harassment scandal. He also suffered an ankle injury as a Jet and later suffered a shoulder injury as a Viking that would end his career.
   On September 10, 2009, Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals and safety Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, were both featured on the cover of Madden NFL 10. Since this was the first year that there was 2 athletes on the cover, many believed the Madden Curse would be split up evenly between Polamalu and Fitzgerald. Others speculated that the curse would cause twice the damage to these athletes. Polamalu sprained his MCL in the first half of the season opener and missed the next four games. After returning, Polamalu played in three more games before injuring his posterior cruciate ligament on November 14, 2009 against Cincinnati, and missed more games as a result. The Steelers went 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, started all 16 regular season and both playoff games for the Cardinals. He did not attend the Pro Bowl due to a rib injury, leaving Steve Smith of the New York Giants to take his spot in the 2010 Pro Bowl. He recorded 97 receptions (third-most of his NFL career), 1,092 yards (fourth-most), and a career-high 13 touchdowns.
   Madden NFL 11 cover athlete Drew Brees played in every game of the 2010 NFL Season. However, he threw twice as many interceptions (22) that season than in the Saints' 2009 Super Bowl-winning campaign (11). Also, his Quarterback Rating dropped nearly 20 points, and the Saints lost in the first round of the playoffs to the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks, the only team to date to make the playoffs with a losing record in a full-length season. He made the 2011 Pro Bowl as a reserve, after being unable to participate in the 2010 Pro Bowl, as the Saints had made the Super Bowl. Brees played 6 weeks of the NFL Season with a torn MCL, a fact that was first outed by his teammate, Heath Evans, later confirmed by another teammate, Jon Stinchcomb and, eventually, Brees himself. More recently, Brees's team, the New Orleans Saints, were implicated in a bounty scandal. The Saints lost draft picks, and head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the 2012 NFL season. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was the subject of the scandal, has been suspended indefinitely. Madden NFL 12 cover athlete Peyton Hillis missed five games in the 2011 NFL season with a hamstring injury and missed one game with strep throat, causing his numbers to decline continuously after the second week. Hillis suffered a re-injury to his hamstring during practice before week nine. In addition, his divisive behavior in the Browns locker room during the season, particularly with regards to his contentious contract negotiations, were the subject of much media attention. Hillis eventually left the Browns, signing a with the Kansas City Chiefs during the off season as a free agent. When asked about his significant decline, Hillis pointed towards the infamous Madden curse as a factor, saying "Things didn't work in my favor this year. There's a few things that happened this year that made me believe in curses. Ain't no doubt about it."
   Madden NFL 13 Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is on the cover. It also features Ray Lewis during the introduction sequence giving a speech in a locker room. However, on October 14 against the Dallas Cowboys, Lewis suffered a torn triceps. On January 2, 2013, Lewis stated that he will retire after the 2012–13 NFL playoffs. Johnson has been injured reportedly suffering nerve damage in his hands, as well as a concussion reportedly, but has not missed any game time. Johnson was not affected by the Madden Curse, as Johnson broke Jerry Rice's single-season receiving record of 1,848 yards, and many other records as well. He ended the season 36 yards shy of being the first receiver ever to have 2,000 yards receiving. However, the Lions went from being a playoff team the previous year to a 4-12 team in 2012.

   When asked about the "Madden Curse", Chris Erb, the EA Sports director of marketing, commented, "I don't know that we believe in the curse. The players don't believe in the curse." To earn the honor of being put on the game cover, a player is usually coming off of a strong year and some regression the following year is to be expected, though many cover athletes had season-ending injuries. The injuries that Madden cover athletes experience could be attributed to the physical nature of football.

Starting with Madden NFL 12 fans have voted to choose the cover athlete. Whether or not the Madden Curse exists, EA believes that many fans voted against their favorite player in hopes of avoiding it. The Madden Curse has become so prominent, that it's even gained the attention of the gaming world, creating odds on how likely an injury will occur to the player appearing on the cover. In December 2010, EA announced their plans on developing a movie based on the Curse, which will be a comedy, and not based on fate-based horror movies like Final Destination.


So... who will be next to get the curse?

Local Mods : 
Global Mods: Please ignore word count. 95% of this is copy & paste. Also, because this is about actual injuries, I put this one in the football section, even though the players on the cover of Madden. Again, your call.

Of course! Don't you know it's a conspiracy? Madden injures anyone who makes the cover to make sure they never make it again, and pays them oodles of money to make sure they don't try hard. XD

I'm creative. What can I say?

Probably so. I don't really know why, but it will. Maybe because it gets in the players head, and they keep looking over their shoulder, expecting something to happen. Who knows.

Eirinn :  
mrfe :  

You know, if you want to get all technical and stuff, Calvin Johnson was on the cover last year, and he didn't get hurt, like was usually happens... any thought on that?

thing1 : He's the oddball. He'll get injured this year, cuz his awesomeness delayed the injury. Unless he's paying off the Madden people so they won't touch him...

mrfe : both are possibilities... hasn't it happened before where they thought the curse was broken, but they get hurt during the off season, or the next pre-season or early the next season... who was that? I think it was two people...

I don't know who, but I betcha they were rich! At least, they were rich before they made the cover... I betcha someone payed off madden before though.

I know! It must be the chocolate milk he drinks! It's magical... XD

Maybe he just wasn't as superstitious as the others? Granted that won't spare you injuries, but it could account for the lack of an on field performance drop.

Calvin Johnson didn't get injured because he's a beast. 'Nuff said. But he did have some small problems early in the year. He played every game, but I think there was at least one game where he wasn't expected to play. I think this year, it will come back though. And I'm hoping that CJ doesn't get injured. If he goes down, any small chance we have at doing anything gets washed down the drain.

 I think that the curse doesn't really exist it's just that players with the best seasons are chosen for the respective year and it's naturally very tough to repeat those types of seasons though there have been an abnormal amount of serious season ending injuries for those on the cover I'd say that's more of a coincidence.

Jaime Jingle : So you think it is a coincidence? I mean, it can't be anything other than that, but it is fun to think that there is a curse. What evidence do you have to back up your claim that this is all just a big coincidence?