Overcoming the "Madden Curse"
Vick was rarely the dominant player in the NFL that he was in Madden, despite the occassional spectacular feat that seemed to justify his unique rating. Shortly before the 2003 season began, however, it appeared as though Vick was going to pay for the disparity between his Madden rating and his on-field performance.
Vick was chosen as cover athlete for Madden 2004, but he broke his leg early in the preseason and started only five games that year. Vick was labeled as another victim of the "Madden Curse" - a series of coincidences such that every player on the cover of the game has underperformed, retired, or been hurt the during the season they made the cover.
Madden 2004 on the Nintendo GameCube.
Undeterred by the Madden Curse, Vick made a historic return from the injury on December 7, 2003 against the Carolina Panthers. In his first start since appearing on the Madden cover, Vick ran for 141 yards and passed for another 179, personally accounting for 320 of his team's 380 total yards of offense. The Falcons won the game 20-14 in overtime.
On October 31, 2004, Vick led the Falcons to a 41-28 victory over the Denver Broncos during which he became the only player in NFL history to pass for over 250 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game.
Vick threw for 2,474 yards last season - the second-highest total of his career - while becoming the first quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season.
Michael Vick- Career Stats (2001-2006)
Like Vick, Cunningham was a favorite character among gamers. Cunningham was a star in Tecmo Super Bowl, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, but he was given the name "QB Eagles" due to a dispute with the National Football League Players' Association. Cunningham's ability earned "QB Eagles" the number-13 spot on The Wiire's countdown of the 25 Greatest Video Game Athletes of all time. Vick did not make the list.
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