If you're a football fan, there's hardly a chance you haven't heard of the "Madden" curse.The apparent and infamous jinx goes like this: The player featured on the cover of Electronic Arts' annual NFL video game is doomed to encounter something bad -- poor luck, a decline Jordan Mailata Jersey in play, or maybe a serious injury. It's superstition at its finest.Did the curse strike again on Thursday night in Denver?With 10 minutes to play in the second quarter, quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down and stayed down after apparently getting his knee rolled up on during a called quarterback sneak. The Chiefs sent the cart out for the reigning MVP, but he waved it off and instead walked to the sideline with the a sistance of trainers -- also displaying a noticeable limp. Shortly after, the that with a knee injury.EA itself has publicly denied the existence of the curse, which tells you everything you need to know about its popularity. (Don't get us started on EA's now-forgotten plans of reportedly .) Others, like cover athletes themselves, have . And yet, whether you genuinely fear your favorite team suffering at the hands of "Madden" or find it all ridiculously silly, the curse has never quite gone away. Or has it? was the cover star for "Madden 19," and he's currently out of the league. Let's reexamine the 20 years of "Madden" covers before that, starting in 1999, when EA started using players in addition to and instead of coach John Madden -- all in hopes of discovering whether the curse is still a thing these days.Here are all the covers since 1999, using the years from the "Madden" titles (example: "Madden 19" is released in 2018): 2000: John Madden, RB Barry SandersSanders is one of the greatest running backs to play the game, but his abrupt, unexpected and controversial retirement came in July 1999, meaning he never set foot on the field after landing on "Madden." His departure was so shocking that EA used the ' Dorsey Levens for the cover of an alternative and European version of the game.Verdict: Cursed2001: RB Eddie GeorgeGeorge went on to rush for more than 1,500 yards in his cover season, but he also lost a career-high number of fumbles, coughed up the ball in the Titans' season-ending playoff game Le'Raven Clark Jersey and never averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry for the rest of his career.Verdict:Cursed2002: QB Daunte CulpepperAfter throwing 33 touchdowns and going 11-5 as a first-time starter in 2000, Culpepper took a nosedive during his cover season. Injuries wiped out six games, he fumbled 16 times, threw just 14 TDs compared to 13 picks and went 4-7 in his starts. Verdict:Cursed2003:St. Louis RB Marshall FaulkThe Hall of Rick Lovato Jersey Famer entered his cover season having logged five straight 1,000-yard seasons and three straight 1,300-yard campaigns. But in 2002, Faulk broke down, mi sing almost a half-dozen starts and never topping 1,000 yards again.Verdict:Cursed2004: QB Michael VickIn the game, Vick was unstoppable thanks to his unmatched speed. On the field, despite exploding onto the scene as a No. 1 pick, a fractured fibula le s than a week after the game's release sidelined him for all but five games. Four years later, he was in jail.Verdict:Cursed2005: LB Ray LewisHis interception total dropped from six to zero in 2004, his cover year, and the Ravens also mi sed the playoffs. But that's nitpicking. He still logged 147 tackles. If we were talking about the next year, there might be a case, as he mi sed 10 games. Verdict:Not cursed2006: QB Donovan McNabbMcNabb hit his peak in 2004, throwing 31 touchdowns and leading the Eagles to Super Bowl XXXIX. But 2005 was rock bottom. He scuffled with Terrell Owens and mi sed almost half of a 6-10 season. He went on to mi s eight games over the next two years, too.Verdict:Cursed2007: RB Shaun AlexanderLike Faulk, he entered his cover year with five straight 1,000-yard seasons under his belt. And his dominance also came to a halt. In 2006, his rushing total dropped from 1,880 to 896, and two years later, he was out of the NFL, a washout.Verdict:Cursed2008:Tenne see Titans QB Vince YoungHe was Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2006. For his cover year, though, Young threw just nine touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions, mi sed a game and earned a seat on the bench for 2008, never fully regaining Jeff Fisher's trust. Verdict:Cursed2009:Green Bay Packers/New York QB Brett FavreEA began by making Favre the cover athlete as a tribute to his Packers career, which had just ended. But then Favre forced his way out and into New York. All he did there was throw an NFL-high 22 Philadelphia Eagles Jersey INTs and hurt his shoulder before moving to Minnesota.Verdict:Cursed2010: WR , Pittsburgh Steelers SS Troy PolamaluFitz had one of his standard Pro Bowl seasons with more than 1,000 yards, but Polamalu mi sed a career-high 11 games in 2009 thanks to an MCL injury, recording a career-low 20 tackles before sticking to the sidelines.Verdict:Half-cursed2011: QB Throwing 33 TDs and earning another Pro Bowl selection is good stuff, but Brees had what constitutes as an off year the season he graced the cover, throwing a career-high and franchise-record 22 picks. His Saints also lost to the 7-9 Seahawks in the playoffs. Verdict:Cursed2012: RB Peyton HillisYou forgot about him, didn't you? Hillis grunted his way to 1,000 yards as a surprise lead back in 2010, but during his cover year, he mi sed a half-dozen games with an injury, averaged just 3.6 yards per carry and ran his way into a journeyman backup career.Verdict:Cursed2013:Detroit Lions WR If anyone broke the curse, it was Johnson, who had both a career and historic season the year he was on the cover. Although, Rodney McLeod Jersey like Barry Sanders before him, he retired relatively early a few years later, 2012 saw him post a whopping 1,964 receiving yards.Verdict:Not cursed2014:Minnesota Vikings RB If Johnson shattered the curse, Peterson may have reignited it in 2013. Fresh off his sixth 1,000-yard season and two years removed from a historic 2,000-yard campaign, he mi sed all but one game after being indicted on child abuse charges. Verdict:Cursed2015:Seattle Seahawks CB His interception total dropped, and his Seahawks failed to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but otherwise, Sherman was still at the top of his game during his cover year. It was only after the season he had to undergo Tommy John surgery.Verdict:Not cursed2016: WR Odell Beck