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But, in practice, the cover is just a good tool to sell the game—and with Madden NFL 15 missing its retail targets, dropping nearly 40 percent from the previous year, it needs to turn things around. "Odell Beckham Jr. will drive sales in New York where the people and the money is," says Carlson. "No put down of his great rookie year, but he's a reflection of our times. The Madden cover is now the SportsCenter highlight play of the year."So there's no curse, as business doesn't break people or cause injuries, right? Video games can't actually ruin a professional athlete's career, can they? This is all about the money and nothing to do with the person on the cover. "That doesn't explain the freakish bad luck in either the Madden or Sports Illustrated curses," Michael tells me, and he's right.There's Ray Lewis for 2005 (wrist), Donovan McNabb for 2006 (ACL) and Shaun Alexander for 2007 (foot fracture). Troy Polamalu for 2010 (MCL and PCL), Peyton Hillis for 2012 (hamstring and strep throat)… The list feels endless.Read VICE Sports: Bruce Weber Made an Insane Short Film About Rob Gronkowski