By Mallory Mattingly
Super Bowl winner and Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley believes in God, not the “Madden Curse.”
Some sports fanatics believe that players selected to feature on the cover of the Madden video game are cursed to a terrible next season or suffer an injury, according to CBS Sports. Barkley is the Madden 2026 cover star, but he isn’t worried.
In a video posted on Instagram, an interviewer asked the athlete, “Are you a believer in curses? Does that factor into your headspace at all as you get that call and know that your face is going to be on that game?”
Without hesitation, Barkley replied, “Nah. I’m a believer in God. That’s my mindset, to be completely honest.”
When Barkley got the call that he would be the next Madden cover, he was thrilled.
“It was amazing,” he told ESPN’s SPORTSCENTER. “Once I found out that I would grace the cover of Madden 2026, it meant everything to me. It’s something I dreamt of as a little kid. And then I got to actually do the hurdle again.”
For the cover of the game, Barkley and the Madden team recreated his legendary backwards hurdle, but he didn’t realize how tough it would be to do it again.
“You know, the move that I made was kind of special because we had to strap me into a harness and do all this crazy stuff,” he revealed. “But it definitely made my respect for a guy like Tom Holland, who does superhero movies and is strapped in all the time. It’s definitely harder than you think.”
The interviewer asked if it was harder to do the move live during the game or with the wires.
Related: Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown: ‘I Play For God’
“I would definitely say the one with wires,” Barkley said. “The wires was definitely harder because in-game I just reacted, and you know, my instinct just took over. But the hardest part with the wires, ’cause they’re pulling you up, was landing and trying to land safely first but also land the correct way.”
He posted a clip of the stunt on Instagram.
“Hurdling onto the @eamaddennfl cover 🙏🏾 Dream come true! Fly Eagles Fly 🦅” the running back wrote.
View this post on InstagramDo you believe in curses?
Barkley certainly had a great time teaming up with Madden for his cover, and thanks to his belief in God, he isn’t at all worried about the supposed “Madden Curse.”
Madden 26 will be available Aug. 14, 2025, for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.
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