Kyle Brandt wishes doom on anyone making ‘Madden curse’ jokes about Caleb Williams

Kyle Brandt did a segment on Madden curse content around Caleb Williams by telling everyone to stop making Madden curse content.

Brandt joined Scott Van Pelt’s SportsCenter after Sunday’s slate of NFL games, which included the Chicago Bears losing to the Minnesota Vikings 9-3, while also losing quarterback Caleb Williams to a concerning hamstring injury. And during his segment, the passionate Chicago Bears fan went off on anyone making the connection between Williams’ injury and the Madden curse.

A thought on Caleb Williams pic.twitter.com/jifBn3QVNh

— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) September 21, 2026

“There’s certain members, not knuckleheads online, but actual media members in the wake of Caleb Williams’ injury that are bringing up the Madden curse in earnest,” Brandt ranted. “If you’re doing that, you are horrible. You don’t check any box of 2026 content. It’s not funny, clever, interesting, insightful, informative, cute, you’re not even cringe because you don’t qualify.

“Madden curse content is uninspired, mail-it-in troll dung, and if you’re a segment producer of a radio show, a podcast, a TV show, preparing Monday’s show, do not include the word Madden in your Caleb coverage, you’re smarter than that. I’ve seen better tripe kicked out by artificial intelligence than I have seen coming from some of these media members. And we’re in a war with technology right now. You are losing it for the humans. And if you’re making Madden curse jokes, when the machines become self-aware, I hope they target you first.”

Williams has been subjected to some ridiculously lame criticism throughout his young NFL career, particularly from he-men who can’t fathom why a football player would paint their nails. But citing the Madden curse isn’t an insult to Williams. And while I don’t doubt there are actual media members bringing up the Madden curse in response to Williams’ injury, the first reference I saw about the Madden curse in response to Williams’ injury came from Brandt.

Sure, the “Madden curse” is low-hanging fruit and predictable content. Nearly every NFL player gets hurt at some point during the season. And nearly half the league will miss a game due to injury in a given season. Being put on the cover of a video game doesn’t preclude players from those high odds of missing a game or getting injured.

The good news for Williams is that he still might have a chance to disprove the curse. Because according to The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero, Williams avoided a serious hamstring injury and may even return next week against the Philadelphia Eagles. But even if Williams comes back and has an MVP-like season, check with Brandt before you think about creating any content that claims the Bears quarterback disproved the Madden curse.