The Things You Didn’t Know About Madden
With the exciting release of Madden NFL 13 today, we have decided to divulge some of the most interesting facts the most common fan wouldn’t know about the popular game franchise.
There has been a lot behind driving this brand throughout the years as you will see how far it has come and its true influence on both culture and the game of football today.
Check out the things you didn’t know about Madden.
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6. The Curse Is Real
It is widely known to sports fans that a so-called "Madden Curse" exists for whatever player is chosen to appear on the Madden NFL cover.
Many dismiss it as folklore, but this jinx is real.
For those who don't know what the curse is, it's said that if a player appears on the cover, then the next season he will either get hurt, see a decrease in his production, his team will have a bad season or sometimes even all three.
5. It can tell the future.
Madden has had a 100% success rate in predicting the real life Super Bowl winner since 2004 when they began simulating results.
In 2009, when Madden NFL 09 came within a mere 2 points of guessing the final score (Projected: Steelers 28, Cardinals 24; Actual: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23). Spread, covered.
It also accurately predicted the exact number of receiving yards for Santonio Holmes (131 yards).
4. NFL players train with it.
In 2009 Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley caught a huge pass to completely swing the momentum of the game against the Bengals.
But instead of running it in for the game-winning touchdown, Stokley instead ran along the goal line to burn time making it harder for the Bengals to make a comeback.
When asked why he made the split-second decision Stokley pointed out that it is was just a Madden tactic of his to not give the opposition a chance to comeback.
Pros everywhere use Madden to familiarize themselves with the competition and learn about various zones and schemes.
3. It's the 33rd franchise.
Madden truly is the 33rd NFL franchise as the league shares its wealth of media assets and gives them access to nearly every inch of every stadium.
They are the only group outside of the 32 NFL teams to receive the official game and coach's tape every week after every gam?
This helps Madden create their product as authentic as it can possibly get. No one gets this tape but NFL teams and Madden, earning the game the nickname "the 33rd franchise."
2. It's bigger than Zelda, Halo, and Pac-Man.
The Madden series has sold over 95 million copies, which destroys other video game heavyweights such as Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, Halo, and even Pac-Man.
While it's still a ways off from overtaking the likes of Tetris, Grand Theft Auto or perennial kingpin Mario, nearly 100 million copies is a lot.
Line 'em up and all those Maddens would stretch across 12,000 miles, which is long enough to create an unbroken chain from EA Tiburon headquarters in Orlando, Florida to Greece -- and back again.
1. It started on a train — and almost stopped there, too.
Back in 1984 When John Madden was in talks with EA founder Trip Hawkins about making a football video game, the two did not see eye-to-eye on the direction of the game.
Hawkins wanted to create a 7-on-7 football game because of the low level of technology but Madden was not having it as he demanded full 11-on-11 action which is real football.
After some time Hawkins finally gave in. The game went way over budget and nearly ruined EA, but eventually made it to store shelves.
