Madden 13 Cover: Why Calvin Johnson Will Finally End the Curse

Calvin Johnson beat out Cam Newton to become the new cover boy for Madden '13, but, to the chagrin of Green Bay Packer fans, Megatron is going to stop the pesky curse. 

Here's a look at why the Detroit Lions star is still primed for a big season, despite being on the dreaded video game cover. 

He's freaking Calvin Johnson

In case you were wondering, Megatron (the football player) is pretty durable.

Way back in his rookie season in 2007, Johnson suffered a lower-back injury that forced him to miss some time, but for the most part he played through the injury, appearing in 15 games.

In the next four seasons, Johnson missed a combined three games. The guy is the opposite of injury prone.

Healthy prone, if you will.

And if you're worried the curse will come in the form of stats instead of injury, don't be.

Johnson, despite constantly having shaky quarterback play until last year, has surpassed 1,000 yards in three of his five season and has averaged just under 10 touchdowns per season.

Oh, and he's still just 26. He might not even have hit his prime yet. 

With Matthew Stafford coming into his own at QB, don't be surprised if Johnson approaches his ridiculous 2011 numbers of 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. 

Wide receivers are immune to the curse

The only other wide receiver to ever be on the cover was Larry Fitzgerald in 2009 (Madden '10). During that season, Fitz started all 16 games and pulled in 97 catches for 1,092 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The touchdowns remain a career high for him.

It's tough to call that a bad season. However, Troy Polamalu, who shared the cover that year, missed a large portion of the season to injury, so people just assume the curse struck again. 

Wide receivers take far less punishment running backs and have less pressure on them than quarterbacks, so it's much easier for them to avoid the curse.

Johnson will follow in Larry's footsteps.

I don't believe in curses

There's the biggest reason why Megatron will have yet another Pro Bowl type season.

(Side note: What do we call him if the Pro Bowl is suspended?)

Call me a realist, but I don't believe in curses just like I don't believe in ghosts. If Calvin's pretty face on the cover of a video game has a direct correlation with him playing bad, I just won't know what to believe anymore. 

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