Top Ten NFL Curses

The NFL Network’s top ten curses. They’re really stretching for subject matter. No mention of the Falcons, though this show was produced before the Super Bowl.

 

Best of the Rest:

HM: The Browns haven’t won since ditching the elf logo in 1969.

 

HM: The Bengals passed over Bill Walsh and hired Bill Johnson as head coach. Walsh went on to build a dynasty in San Francisco. No one remembers Bill Johnson.

 

HM: The Super Bowl hangover curse. Few teams repeat. It’s even harder for Super Bowl losers to return to the big game. Bad news for Falcon fans.  

 

HM: No team has played a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Several have had the chance: Rams, Raiders, Saints, Dolphins, Lions, Giants, Jets, Vikings, Falcons, Jaguars, Buccaneers, Colts, Chargers, Texans, Cowboys.

 

10. Revenge of the Honey Bears. Not long after the Bears won big in 1985 they added a cheerleading squad. They haven’t won big since then.

 

9. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Billy Penn statue. You knew they were going to make up an Eagles curse.

 

8. The Cardinals are cursed for taking the NFL title when it was stripped from the Pottsville Maroons, who had played a team of college all stars.

 

7. The City of Buffalo is cursed ever since the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley. The NBA team left town. The NHL team lost the Stanley Cup on a bad call. Buffalo’s greatest star (OJ Simpson) was disgraced. Thurman Thomas lost his helmet and didn’t start the Super Bowl. And the Bills lost four straight Super Bowls – one on Scott Norwood’s missed field goal.

6. Joe Namath made a deal with the devil, guaranteeing a Super Bowl win in exchange for not winning anything else the rest of his life. Joe was the game’s MVP, despite not even throwing a pass in the fourth quarter. Joe even looked like the devil when he had that Fu Manchu. You knew they were gonna make up a curse to explain why the Jets are perennial losers.

 

5. Marcus Allen hexes Al Davis. The Raiders owner isn’t satisfied with one HOF RB. Davis brings in Bo Jackson and Allen has to sit. Then Allen signed with the rival Chiefs, and the Raiders haven’t won since – even losing to New England in the snowy tuck rule game.

4. The Sports Illustrated cover jinx. The SI jinx started with Doak Walker. The Lions lost five straight games. Packers lineman Tony Mandarich’s career went downhill after appearing on the cover.

 

3. The Super Dome Curse. The stadium was built on top of a cemetery. The Saints were so bad they had local witch doctors come in before a game to dance and lift the curse. During the 49ers/Ravens Super Bowl the clock stopped, then the lights went out. No mention of the similar Atlanta Stadium curse.

2. The Madden cover curse. Every player appearing on the video game cover suffered a major injury: Donovan McNabb, Donte Culpepper, Shawn Alexander, Vince Young, Garrison Hearst, Mike Vick. Calvin Johnson broke the curse – but the Lions went from being a playoff team to 4-12. Now only Madden appears on the cover.

 

1. The Bobby Layne curse. In 1957 Layne broke his leg, but the Lions won the championship with Tobin Rote at QB. Layne was traded. On his way out of town he said the Lions wouldn’t win for the next 50 years. He was right. Will the curse ever end? Detroit drafted Matt Stafford number one overall, and he’s been the best QB since Layne. Maybe so. Stafford grew up on the same street as Layne, and went to the same high school.