2024 Super Bowl Odds: Will Bills Be Cursed With Josh Allen As ‘Madden 24’ Cover Star?

Image © Tina MacIntyre-Yee /Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

✍️ Written by :

Ty Bronicel

🗓 Updated :

Aug 23rd 2023

With that headline … hell, let’s get a few things out of the way right from the start.

Many Buffalonians – I swear that’s going to be the title of a Netflix series soon – already believe their beloved Buffalo Bills are hexed.

As in, they’re never going to win the big one. Losing four straight Super Bowls will do that to your minds, sports fans.

But on Wednesday, one more malediction (look it up) – the mythical (?) Madden Curse – may have jinxed the Bills going into what looks like a promising 2023-2024 season.

Or maybe it’s a blessing.

OK, first, what I’m talking about is that Buffalo’s star quarterback Josh Allen has been picked for the cover of the 2024 edition of EA Sports’ legendary sports game “Madden,” named after the larger-than-life Raiders coach and NFL commentator John Madden.

Here’s the official trailer for “Madden 24”.

Allen becomes the first Bills player ever to grace the cover of this legendary Hall-of-Fame video game and he was clearly full-on stoked about the honor, sharing this tweet.

Several players who have appeared on the cover, beginning with 49ers running back Garrison Hearst (Madden ‘98, the first NFL player other ), have suffered injuries the following season or sometimes the season after that.

Point is, there is – well, mostly was – some validity to it.

Here’s the full list of NFL players who’ve appeared on the cover:

Here is the full list of Madden cover athletes:

2000 John Madden

2001 Eddie George

2002 Daunte Culpepper

2003 Marshall Faulk

2004 Michael Vick

2005 Ray Lewis

2006 Donovan McNabb

2007 Shaun Alexander

2008 Vince Young

2009 Brett Favre

2010 Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald

2011 Drew Brees

2012 Peyton Hillis

2013 Calvin Johnson

2014 Barry Sanders

2014* Adrian Peterson

2015 Richard Sherman

2016 Odell Beckham Jr.

2017 Rob Gronkowski

2018 Tom Brady

2019 Antonio Brown

2020 Patrick Mahomes

2021 Lamar Jackson

2022 Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady

2023 John Madden

2024 Josh Allen

So, as you can see, there are some stars who weren’t fazed (much) by being on the cover, while others – pointing at you Peyton Hillis – were never the same player afterward. There’s a great history lesson on the ‘Curse’ here.

Some NFL fans expected Eagles All-Pro QB Jalen Hurts, who finished a distant second to Patrick Mahomes in this year’s MVP voting, to be the cover guy.

Hurts was a finalist for the honor along with Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson, among others.

When Hurts wasn’t picked some Eagles fans were relieved, like Ike Reese, who tweeted: "Good, I believe in the “Madden Curse” #FlyEaglesFly

NFL.com points out: “Wednesday's reveal is historic: Allen is the first Buffalo Bill to appear on the cover of the game. In another first, the cover for the Deluxe Edition will also feature fans alongside Allen in a nod to the famous Bills Mafia fanbase.”

So rejoice and embrace your cover-made man, Bills brothers and sisters … unless it’s a godfather-esque kiss of death, in which case, I told you so.

In closing, what does it all mean?

Probably not much.

But let’s look at the latest Super Bowl LVIII odds (as of June 7) courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook, one of our favorite sites, along with many other great gambling companies in the U.S. including DraftKings Sportsbook, BetMGM and more.