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Has NASCAR 21: Ignition game bucked the Madden NFL cover curse?
In the world of sports video games, a jinx theory has emerged that players who appeared on the cover of the NFL’s Madden series goes on to have a woeful season. So, you can imagine the outcry of fans of Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace when NASCAR 21: Ignition put them all three of them on the cover of the reinvented game this year!
Charles Bradley
Published: Oct 6, 2021, 9:47 PM
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First, let’s explain the cover curse: Until 1998, Madden NFL video game covers were of the man himself – legendary coach and TV broadcaster John Madden – but as marketeers worked harder to shift the product, top players became the cover stars. The first was Garrison Hearst in Madden NFL 99 : After an amazing ’98, in the first game of the new season he suffered a terrible ankle break and didn’t play again until 2001.
Since then, a dazzling array of star players have been jinxed, including Michael Vick (broken leg), Donovan McNabb (sports hernia), Shaun Alexander (fractured foot) – even Rob Gronkowski, the first Madden cover star to win a Super Bowl that season, actually missed the majority of it due to a back injury.
NASCAR 21: Ignition
Photo by: Motorsport Games
And so, to NASCAR 21: Ignition – the completely-rebooted NASCAR game franchise is fast approaching its launch date of 28th October (for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC) and is the first NASCAR console game to use a combination of rFactor 2’s physics and the Unreal Engine for visuals. How about its cover curse?
Well, no sign of that so far. Reigning champion Elliott has won two races, at COTA and Road America, while Blaney won early in Atlanta and then went back-to-back at Michigan and Daytona. Wallace was the latest of the trio to win, in Monday’s rain-delayed Talladega race, for the new 21XI Racing team of Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan – and thus completes the successful set.
Michael Jordan, NBA Hall of Famer and co-owner of 23XI Racing
Photo by: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images
And therein lies another thread, as Jordan himself has graced many a cover of basketball video games, although at his mighty peak he dropped out of the NBA’s official games by taking ownership of all of his image rights and essentially priced himself out of the game. That didn’t stop him making his own deals, such as Michael Jordan in Flight and Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City – the latter a game where he’d throw basketballs at villains to save his Chicago Bulls teammates!
Following a cheat code fiasco in NBA Live 96, Jordan finally eased his stance into the 2000s. His true game cover comeback occurred in NBA 2K11, which had a game mode built around him, 2K12 and 2K16 – although his playing career was long over by then!
As he entered NASCAR team ownership, Jordan was adamant that he’d signed a winner in Wallace…
And after Monday’s events, he was proved correct…
So let's put the cover curse to bed... until next time!
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