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Forget Madden, The Super Bowl Curse Levels Franchises

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We all know about the devastation leveled on the preeminent player that graces the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL, but one player facing a bad year is nothing compared to watching an entire franchise plummet into the abyss that is “The Super Bowl Curse.”

A city might earn hundreds of millions in economic revenue, but it can cost the NFL franchise a year of futility to host the Super Bowl.

Don’t believe me? Let’s start with the obvious and look at the Saints. A team that went 13-3 last year. Saw an off season of unprecedented scandal, an interim head coach, an interim-interim head coach, then started the season 0-4, fought to 5-5 only to get hammered by a backup quarterback at home to fall to 5-6. They then faced a daunting schedule to finish out and despite the fact they are hosting the Super Bowl, will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

After the Colts stumbled to an 0-13 start, I got thinking, “Wow, one of the NFL’s most consistent franchises chose a bad year to face plant into futility…” No team had won more games in a decade than the Colts did between 2000-2009. They were coming off a season where they had tied the NFL record for most consecutive playoff appearances, were looking to own that record and host the world’s largest single-day sporting event. And then Manning can’t play for the first time in HIS LIFE  and the goose egg showed up in the win column for 13 straight week. Still not convinced?

The Cowboys were happy to show off Jerry’s World to the planet in 2010. What they didn’t account for was going from an 11-5 record in 2009 to crushing pressures collapsing Tony Romo’s clavicle and the team into a 6-10 season as they watched the Green Bay Packers turn the 6th seed into a Lombardi Trophy.

Need more? Miami has hosted it’s fair share of Super Bowls and received some cruel punishment because of it. 2006 the Dolphins were 6-10, hosted the big game and paid for it with a 1-15 season in 2007. The solution? How about a big time turnaround for the franchise with Tony Sparano. In 2008, the team rebounded to an 11-5 record, shocked the NFL by winning the AFC East. Sure they were ousted in the first round of the playoffs, but when 2009 opened up, this team was looking to build on ’08 success and once again host the Super Bowl. They went 7-9 that year. Haven’t made the playoffs since 2008.

And it’s not just recent history either. The 1980 New Orleans Saints were up for the task of host the Super Bowl. They were coming off an 8-8 campaign in 1979, then promptly went 1-15 in 1980 and still hold the second longest losing streak in NFL history at 15 games.

Below is a list of every Super Bowl, the host team and how they faired. Turns out, in 46 years of this game, only 21 teams that hosted the Super Bowl ended the same season with a .500 record or above. Only 10 teams made the playoffs, the last being the Buccaneers in 2000. Only 2 have played in the Super Bowl and ONE team in NFL history has hosted and won the game. That’d be the 1984 San Francisco 49ers when the game was held at Stanford.

So Jets fans, you think THIS year is bad. Wait until your team is officially the Super Bowl host franchise. (Giants will likely be the exception to the rule. They usually are.)



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