It’s a widespread superstition that if a player appears on the game’s cover in the summer, they’ll suffer an injury or their numbers will plummet that season. Unlike other curses, this one seems real, particularly for RBs.
After winning 2023 Offensive Player of the Year, San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey graced the cover of “Madden NFL 25.” He subsequently battled Achilles and knee problems throughout the 2024 season, rushing for a career-low 202 yards in four games.
Barkley’s injury history amplifies potential concerns. In his first six seasons with the New York Giants, the 28-year-old missed 21 games because of knee and ankle issues. However, the Eagles’ elite offensive line could protect him.
Per Pro Football Reference, Philadelphia finished with the league’s most rushing yards before contact (2,011) in the regular season in 2024. (YBC measures the yards a runner gains before being touched by a defender.) Four of the O-line’s five starters return in 2025, including right tackle Lane Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowler.
Entering Philadelphia’s final regular-season game last season, Barkley needed just 100 rushing yards to break Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson’s season record (2,105 rushing yards in 16 games in 1984). But Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni rested him for the playoffs. That could motivate Barkley to try to break the record again in 2025.
On May 28, new Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said the RB “looked like the same guy” at the beginning of OTAs, despite recording a league-leading 345 carries in 16 regular-season games last season.
For those who are still worried about the “Madden curse,” know it may be losing its powers. Per CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin, just three of the 10 cover athletes from 2015-25 were cursed. Among those who avoided the curse was Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who won his first Super Bowl the first time he graced the cover.
Instead of worrying about Barkley in 2025, the Eagles should feel optimistic. There seem to be multiple reasons he could top his monumental 2024 season.