Lilly Kashishian
Student Writer
Fall means pumpkin spice, pumpkin lattes, basically pumpkin everything and, of course…football!
As we head into the 2017-2018 NFL season there are a lot of questions to be answered. Will the Madden Curse affect superstar quarterback Tom Brady? Will Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott have a sophomore slump season? Will your fantasy football team lead you to bragging rights? And the biggest question of every season, who will win the Super Bowl?
We turned to some students to get their thoughts on these very important questions.
The dreaded Madden Curse—better hope you don’t have the player who is on the Madden video game cover on your fantasy football team. It is rumored that every athlete who is on the Madden video game cover is cursed for that particular season.
Photo retrieved from easports.com.
The first victim was Garrison Hearst who broke his ankle in 1998 after being the featured athlete. This year’s lucky guy—New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Will he fall victim to injury or have a bad season coming off of a Super Bowl victory last season?
Senior politics and international relations major Dylan Sheaffer has Brady on his fantasy football team this season.
“I certainly hope Brady isn’t affected by the Curse, but I can see it,” Sheaffer says. “I don’t see him becoming terrible, but I can see him taking a step back.”
Next question.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott produced astonishing numbers in his rookie season rushing for 1,631 yards and scoring 15 rushing touchdowns. Will he have another amazing season or fall into the sophomore slump?
“No, I think he’s going to be back and better than ever because he was just so impressive,” says junior adventure education major EmmaLee Mischlich. “Even though it will be incredibly difficult to keep those numbers up, if anybody could do it, he could.”
Moving on.
New season, new lineup, new year, new you. Everyone thinks their fantasy football team is the best at the start of the season, but how long will that last? For senior communication major Colby Gilsenan, senior mathematics and philosophy double major Jake LaGrand, and senior sport management major John Krieger, bragging rights are on the line.
“My outlook is looking worse and worse each week,” says LaGrand. “I’m dealing with the crushing injury of Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson. Now, I’m relying on Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch performing more than anybody else this year.”
“I have a good foundation,” says Gilsenan. “But Allen Robinson went down in week one, and I have Tannehill who is out for the season so that hurts more. I have the talent to still potentially make the playoffs, but it’s looking messier than I want it to be.”
Krieger seems to have more positive thoughts regarding the outlook of his team: “Championship. Championship. Championship. Nothing short of a championship,” he says.
The final question: who will win the Super Bowl?
Although Brady is on the cover of Madden, current odds have the Patriots winning their second Super Bowl in a row. Anything can happen, so all we can do now is sit back and enjoy the season.