Crisis Brewing

Please don't let it happen.

Jamaal Charles CANNOT be on the cover of Madden 12.

Jamaal Charles is an electrifying player. He is a difference maker and one of the key reasons the Chiefs were relevant again in 2010. He finished second in the league in rushing and second in history for yards per carry average. He is an up-and-coming star and according to his chat with ESPN, Charles would be "real proud" to be on the cover of the next Madden.

And it's for all those reasons that Charles should not be on the cover of Madden 12.

I am a believer in the Madden Curse, and I'm going to bet that a lot of you superstitious Chiefs fans out there are too.

The Madden Curse has destroyed too many players, crushed too many dreams, for me not to believe in it. And now EA Games is doing a bracket challenge where the fans get to vote for the next player to be on the cover of the most popular football video game series of all time; they get to vote for the next recipient of the Madden Curse.

Charles was paired up with Tim Tebow in the first round, one of the most popular players in college history, a first-round draft pick, and the most popular selling jersey of 2010. I had hope that Charles's journey to the cover of Madden would end there, even though Tebow has done almost nothing to deserve a chance on the cover of Madden.

My hopes were dashed when Charles blew out Tebow 64% to 36%.

Then in the next round, Charles was up against Maurice Jones-Drew, a more established and probably more well known running back. Charles had the better year, but I still held out hope that this popularity-style bracket challenge would bring Charles up on the short end of the stick.

Although it looked promising for part of the week, Charles pulled out the 51% to 49% win.

And now, for this week, he's going against Peyton Hillis, the running back for the Cleveland Browns. A not-very-well-known running back from a small market shouldn't stand a chance against Charles this week. It almost seems like Charles is destined to be on the cover.

Now, I have a confession.

I have been voting for Charles in this bracket challenge.

It would be nice to see a Chief on the cover of Madden, so I voted for Charles. Not just once, but multiple times in both rounds. I am partly to blame for Charles making it so far. And no matter how much I don't want Charles to fall victim to this Madden Curse, I'm too big of a Chiefs fan not to vote for him.

So, fellow Chiefs fans, I implure you. If you want to vote for Charles, vote for him, but do so once. That way you are showing your support for the Chiefs while not stuffing the ballot box for the potential downfall of the Chiefs 2011 season.

You have been warned.