In all my years of prognosticating fantasy football one trend that I refuse to ignore is the dreaded "Madden Curse". It has successfully predicted fantasy failure more often than not.

The so-called "Curse" dates to the first time football players starred on the cover of the game instead of legendary broadcaster John Madden.

In most cases, the player featured on the cover would either suffer injury or experience a major drop-off in performance.

Hillis has missed three straight games due to a nagging hamstring and has lost the support of his teammates and the Browns' new coaching staff with his words and action surrounding contract negotations. At this point, it looks as if the Browns will part ways with him in the offseason and he may not see the field again this season.

Some examples of the Madden Curse:

MADDEN 2003, Marshall Faulk
2001 season: Faulk gained over 2,000 all-purpose yards as he and Kurt Warner led the Rams to their second Super Bowl in three seasons.
Post Madden: Faulk never rushed for 1,000 yards again and his career settled into a steady decline over the next four years.

MADDEN 2005, Ray Lewis
2003 season: Lewis was the leading vote recipient for the 2003 AP All-Pro team, earning 49 of 50 votes. He also won the annual AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year with 43 votes out of 50.
Post Madden: His next two seasons were cut short by injury -- in Week 15 in 2004 and then in Week 6 in 2005. To his credit, Lewis has recovered nicely from that.

MADDEN 2007, Shaun Alexander
2005 season: Alexander was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 2005, rushing for over 1,800 yards and 27 touchdowns in leading the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
Post Madden: Suffered a foot injury in 2006, missed six starts and was never the same player. Lived out his final days as a Washington Redskin running like he was on a powder puff team.

COMPLETE HISTORY (HoustonPress.com)

Fantasy Football, NFL madden curse, peyton hillis, madden 2012, john madden, marshall faulk, ray lewis, shaun alexander