Sports Illustrated Jinx Could Claim Notre Dame As Next Victim

If you are a superstitious athlete there are two things that you do not want: Being on the cover of a Madden football game and being on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Notre Dame fans were honored, and possibly jinxed, when Sports Illustrated decided to talk about the miracle at ND on this week’s cover.

Notre Dame is currently ranked as the number one team in the nation. It’s the first time that they’ve earned the spot in the AP poll since 1993. And to add a little more pressure to the situation the Fighting Irish are just one win away from playing in the BCS Championship game.

If there was ever a time to avoid a jinx this would be it.

Unfortunately for Irish fans, the jinx has arrived.

Now this might just be superstitious nonsense but USA Today notes that there are plenty of reasons to believe in the Sports Illustrated jinx. In 1957, Oklahoma had won 47 consecutive games when they appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They lost their next game.

In 1984, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert was featured on the cover under the title Man of Steel. He was sidelined for nearly all of the 1984 season with an injury and was forced to retire.

The Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow appeared on the cover in 2011 after winning 6 consecutive games and jumping back into the playoff race. They lost their next three games and were eliminated early in the playoffs.

There are plenty of instances showcasing the power of the Sports Illustrated jinx but that doesn’t mean that ND is going to lose next weekend. Athletes like Michael Jordan have been featured dozens of times on the cover and still managed to have pretty successful careers.

Do you think Notre Dame has been jinxed? When the luck of the Irish run out next week against USC?