im not saying its a curse but its pritty weird how the next season the players on the covers have suffered
1999
Garrison Hearst was the first player to ever be featured on a Madden cover, appearing on Madden NFL 99. Hearst's 1998 season was the best of his career, rushing for 1,570 yards and seven touchdowns. He led the San Francisco 49ers to the playoffs and a wild card win over the Green Bay Packers, but on the first play of the divisional game versus the Atlanta Falcons, he suffered a bad ankle break and his team would go on to lose the game. He did not play again until 2001.
2000
Barry Sanders retired a week prior to training camp.
2001
Eddie George, then of the Tennessee Titans, is the next player who graced the Madden NFL 2001 box. Following his appearance on the cover, he averaged only 3 yards per carry and rushed for career lows of 939 yards and 5 touchdowns due to a nagging toe injury that bothered him the entire season.[citation needed] For the rest of his career, he never averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry.
2002
Former Minnesota Vikings star quarterback Daunte Culpepper appeared on the Madden NFL 2002 cover after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for 470 yards and 7 more scores in the 2000 season. However, Culpepper struggled with turnovers in the first 11 games of the 2001 season, throwing 13 interceptions and only 14 touchdown passes. A leg injury ended his season in the 11th game. Since that time he has been traded 1 time and released 2 others, eventually ending up with the 2008 Detroit Lions.
2003
Running back Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams, who was on the Madden NFL 2003 cover, suffered an ankle injury, missing five games. He did amass nearly 1,600 total yards and 10 touchdowns in limited time in 2002; however, it was a steep decline from his 2,000 yard and 21 touchdown campaign of 2001. He never broke through the 1,000 yards rushing mark for the rest of his career. Injuries to both knees ended his career in 2006.
2004
Five days after Madden NFL 2004 was released, which featured Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on the cover, he was injured during a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, suffering a fractured right fibula. Vick played in only the last 5 regular season games, finishing with just 585 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. His career was put on hold in 2007 when he was convicted of felony dog fighting and sentenced to 23 months in jail.
2005
Madden NFL 2005 featured Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, the first defensive player ever to appear on the cover of a Madden game. It was Lewis' first season without a single interception, after posting a career-high 6 the previous year. Lewis suffered a serious hand injury during the final game of the regular season.
2006
During the 2005-2006 season, Donovan McNabb suffered a sports hernia, but elected to play until after the November 14th game with the Dallas Cowboys. During this game, McNabb was knocked down after an interception return by Roy Williams, aggravating the injury. He then had to have a season-ending surgery that was required to repair the injury.
2007
Shaun Alexander, who had missed one start in his previous 64 contests, fractured the 4th metatarsal in his foot after he was on the cover. He missed six starts and failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time since 2000. He was released by the Seattle Seahawks and has since played in only 4 games as a backup for the Washington Redskins who released him midway through the 2008 season. He has yet to play since.
2008
Vince Young injured his quadriceps during a matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 6 of the 2007 NFL season. Young missed the following week matchup against the Houston Texans, but started the next week against the Oakland Raiders. The following year, Young was benched during the season opener and did not start another game with Kerry Collins becoming the starter for the rest of the 2008 NFL Season.
2009
After being traded from the Green Bay Packers (where he led them to a 13-3 season and a NFC championship game appearance) to the New York Jets, Brett Favre led his new team to an 8-3 start. Favre suffered an injury to his biceps area and subsequently, the Jets lost four out of their last five games, missing the playoffs. He finished the year leading the league in interceptions with 22. He has now retired after 18 seasons.
as for the cover i think it will depend on what new things r in the game if they have focused on the def side of the ball (which they should as its hard to play CB and S also the 3-4 is poorly put in play then for sure they should have Ed reed so for that reason i voted for him