Has Antonio Brown Had The Most Consequential Madden Curse In History?

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Did you hear Antonio Brown got himself a new job? He’s becoming the new co-host of Joe Rogan’s podcast. I’m just kidding — that’s what we in the biz like to refer to as “topical humor” given that you apparently can’t go anywhere in media these days without seeing or hearing about Joe Rogan these days. I was at my very-offline parents’ house the other day and he popped up on cable news, so even The Olds know about him.

Nevertheless, AB’s new gig is actually somehow equally ridiculous as he recently announced that he’s the President of Kanye West’s Donda Sports, which is… I don’t know what it is, since it doesn’t have a website or anything.

Of course, Brown announced his new, uh, role in typical AB fashion as he posted what he claimed to be a $2 million invoice for an owner’s suite at this year’s Super Bowl.

“As President, it was important to me to book the Donda Suite for this year’s Super Bowl LVI. This is a game meant to be watched together. This is the love and unity we need to push. THIS IS FOR THE KIDS, OUR NEXT GENERATION! We will be hosting community events this weekend, and inviting kids with their families to the game, let’s give people the Donda Experience,” Brown wrote on Instagram.

However, as many eagle-eyed sports fans noticed, the due date for the bill was dated 02/07/2021, which would be — if math isn’t your thing — LAST year. Strange indeed my dear Watson.

Instagram


We write about Antonio Brown a lot on this website, but today, for the first time ever, the endless stream of madness that seems to trail AB made me wonder if this is the most consequential Madden Curse we’ve ever seen. This, obviously, isn’t the first time this idea has been hatched as it’s been floating around social media for a few years now, basically ever since AB left the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And truthfully, all jokes aside: has the Madden Curse ever hit anyone harder? Usually, the Madden Curse manifests itself in horrific injury or statistical regression. But in Antonio Brown’s case, it’s much deeper than that, much more functional than that, as virtually all of Brown’s issues — issues that have contributed to his current status within the NFL — have been off-the-field. The man hasn’t only cost himself bottom-line dollars and places in the record books but he’s burned bridges all around him. From the Steelers to the Raiders, from Tom Brady to the Bucs to the Court of Public Opinion, the world simply doesn’t see Antonio Brown the way it used to. Lest we forget, there was about a half-a-decade stretch where the dude was, far and away, the league’s best wide receiver.

ESPN


Madden 19 was released on August 7, 2018. 2018 was also famously Brown’s final season in Pittsburgh and the end of his career as we knew it. While the Steelers traded Brown to the then-Oakland Raiders, he never played in a regular-season game for the franchise as he seemingly intentionally destabilized himself — filing grievances over his helmet, not participating in practice, allegedly calling GM Mike Mayock a “cracker”, the list goes on and on — to such an extent that the Raiders had no choice but to cut him.

Then, after being salvaged by Tom Brady and picked up by the New England Patriots, he played in just one regular-season game before being cut in Week 3 of the 2019 season following allegations of sexual assault and allegedly sending “intimidating” texts to an accuser [via ESPN]. While Brown ultimately resufraced in 2020 to win a Super Bowl with the Bucs, that goodwill all came crashing down this past season when he stripped off his pads and shirt before storming off the field during the team’s Week 17 game against the New York Jets. He was, once again, cut.

Now, 33-years-old and likely without any more NFL bridges left to burn (he betrayed Tom Brady, after all), AB finds himself as the apparent President of Donda Sports, doing… whatever the hell it is he and Kanye West are up to. If that ain’t the realest Madden Curse in history, I’m not sure what is. Except for Peyton Hillis, who never should’ve been on there in the first place.

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