Is New England Patriots free safety Devin McCourty aware of the โMadden Curseโ? Judge for yourself by his response to Fridayโs announcement that quarterback Tom Brady would grace the video gameโs cover next season.
โAs long as he does what Tom does, Iโm happy about it,โ McCourty told The Knockturnal Friday evening inside The Plaza Hotel. The Nyack, New York native and his twin brother Jason were in attendance at the inaugural Yogi Berra Museum Awards Dinner, recipients of the โYogi Berra Museum Service Award.โ
โIt was cool to see the cover and to see โG.O.A.T. Edition,โโ the two-time Super Bowl champ continued, referencing the acronym โGreatest of All Time.โ โHeโs the oldest guy on a โMaddenโ so he has to feel great (that) at 40 in August, heโs still on a โMaddenโ cover. Thatโs a pretty great reward.โ
The โMadden Curseโ refers to players who were chosen as the face of โMadden NFLโ only to fall prey the subsequent year to an injury or production drop-off. Past โvictimsโ include Troy Polamalu, Vince Young, Michael Vick and Daunte Culpepper. Last season, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski joined the infamous club, appearing in only eight games due to injury.
Of course, things eventually turned out just fine for the Patriots as the team won its fifth Lombardi Trophy. McCourty has already begun working out during the week in New England as the team seeks to repeat, but found himself in Manhattan Friday to accept an award for the cause he and his brother champion: Tackle Sickle Cell.
โWe just try to do things that we believe in and help kids and help patients with Sickle Cell Disease,โ McCourty told me of his familyโs non-profit, which is affiliated with the Embrace Kids Foundation. โItโs an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as Yogi Berra.โ
The gala, which also honored Yankeesโ legend Ron Guidry and team General Partner / Vice Chairperson Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal, raised funds for the The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State University. Berra, a Baseball Hall of Famer with 18 All-Star appearances and 10 championships to his name, would have been 92 on Friday.