Josh Freeman Jinxed?
May 19th, 2010
Joe has to confess: He’s not much of a video game guy.
When video games were first exploding, Joe was just ending his beer-soaked college days. When Joe graduated, he had a decision to make: become addicted to video games or try to continue his education in some respects (Joe also has a history degree) and entertain himself with history books, a passion of Joe’s.
Joe chose reading history books over PlayStation.
Yeah, Joe’s boring.
So the addition of video games and the explosion of PlayStation upon American society whizzed right by Joe as Joe read books from Shelby Foote or Stephen Ambrose or Gordon Prange.
Since, Joe has picked up that there is some sort of curse tied to video games, that if an NFL player is put on the cover of some video game, the player is sure to be injured, or so the wives’ tale goes.
So when Joe came upon the graphic above with Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman on the cover of a video game, a cold chill shot up Joe’s spine (and it had nothing to do with Rachel Watson).
Is Freeman now jinxed? Or was this just someone having fun with Photoshop?
May 19th, 2010 at 10:02 am
It’s just someone having fun with photoshop. Though it’s pretty well done.
Drew Brees is the one who’ll be jinxed next season.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Has to be Photo Shop.
Aside from the fact that he is the QB for a team that was 3-13. There is no way the NFL or the Bucs would approve this with him wearing the creamsicle uniform.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Brees is the cover athlete for Madden 11, people post “templates” for PS3 and Xbox 360 madden 11 and people change the covers for customization purposes, this is nothing more than a custom cover for Madden 11, albeit a very good one!
May 19th, 2010 at 10:29 am
You really believed that was legit? That explains alot…
May 19th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Uh, well, Joe had no idea, hence the post and the question to those who might know.
It does comfort Joe to know you read. Joe thanks you.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:01 am
I couldn’t imagine Freeman being all that marketable at this point. Half the fans in the league probably have no idea who he is.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:03 am
The worst part of all is his throwing motion in that picture… if you are gonna make a cover for a QB, then they would have used him throwing deep… not throwing an incompletion on 3rd down trying to avoid a sack from the blitz.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Joe seems like a smart guy, choosing education over games. Surely Rachel Uchitel….er, I mean…Watson would approve.
http://inyobusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/rachel-uchitel-bikini-343×600.jpg
May 19th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Mike:
Good point. Joe, however, knows that several national magazines use regional covers in order to sell more rags.
Joe wondered if, perhaps, video game marketers used the same strategy.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:12 am
THAT LOOKS SICK!!!!!!!
May 19th, 2010 at 11:12 am
Nice article Joe.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Im a fan of the Madden series and have played the series since the sega genesis days. Pretty good cover artwork has me questioning if it was real graphics or proto’s from ea. Joe you knows somethin about gaming if he knows about the EA Madden jinx.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:53 am
I meant to say Joe knows something about gaming if has knowledge of the Madden jinx.
May 19th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Little backstory on the picture since Joe failed to provide it: I tweeted that photo yesterday (@ghue). Guy who created it (miami2005734) is on the Operation Sports forum. I am the poster who provided the pic and requested it. Many other players have been photoshopped onto the cover. Freeman is the only Bucs player I know of for Madden 11. http://www.operationsports.com/forums/madden-nfl-football/397621-madden-11-custom-cover-thread-39.html#post2041062361
If you like the pic, register and thank him. I alerted him to this blog post too so maybe he’ll read these comments too.
May 19th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Bern:
First, thanks for the information.
Second, Joe “failed” to provide background simply because Joe didn’t know there was any background.
May 19th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Sorry to be so harsh Joe. Keep up the good work. Love the site.
May 19th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Joe is a no-video-game-playing failure.
I’ve learned a lot in this post 😛
May 19th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Bern:
Joe never got the impression you were harsh. Thanks so much for the kind words and the support!
May 19th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Joe,
After our 9-7 season this year and we make our playoff run in 2011; Freeman will be on the cover. The useless ‘AINTS will be gone and forgotten. Who on this site is not excited about our upcoming season!!
May 19th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
After what was easily my favorite bucs draft in the past decade, I can assure you I’m pumped about this year. The guy in charge of madden player ratings (@donny_moore) is a bucs fan. He played with the bucs last night in madden 11 and said the new dt’s are like a wall. Makes me feel all giddy.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
There is now way he is on the cover, photoshop.
That is a badass looking cover though.
May 19th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
No doubt a hell of a cover. glad it’s not real,were gonna need all the GOOD luck we can get ths season. Feelin 7-9 this season. May be a big stretch,but do-able.
May 19th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
@Joe, you should provide us with a face palm smiley.
RahDomDaBest’s comment deserves a face palm.
May 19th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
That is a nice cover!! Those orange jerseys look even better with all the touch ups done on photoshop or whatever it was the person was doing.
May 19th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Hey what is Tiger Woods doing in a football helmet?
May 19th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Hopefully in a couple of years he can be good enough to get on the cover, and then the person who made it can just send it to EA Sports headquarters so they can use it.