Madden Curse strikes instantly as Caleb Williams gets Chicago skyline cover right before Bears stadium move

I don’t think we’ve ever seen the Madden Curse act quicker than it did this past week.

On Wednesday, the Madden team announced that Caleb Williams would be the cover athlete for this year, along with Chicago skyline under him. Two days later, the Chicago Bears board of directors voted to advance the development of their new stadium in Hammond, Indiana.

The first real quarterback they’ve had in decades makes the Madden cover, only for the team to leave the city in the same week. Brutal stuff.

The Madden Curse is alive and well

Breaking: The Bears’ Board of Directors voted Thursday to advance the stadium development in Hammond, Indiana.

“There is more work to do, but barring anything very strange, it’s a done deal,” one source told @AdamSchefter. pic.twitter.com/7bH6EV5bNG

— ESPN (@espn) June 5, 2026

>> Shop Philly Sports Gear Here

To be fair, Hammond isn’t all that far from Chicago, despite being a state over. It’s about 25 miles southeast of the Windy City and sits right along the Indiana-Illinois border.

The Bears will join a long list of teams who don’t actually play in the city they claim. None of the teams in the NFC East aside from the Eagles play in the city they reside in, just to name a few.

It’s sad, really. Somewhere along the way, we stopped caring whether or not our teams actually played in the city they’re supposed to represent. I don’t know why, but I don’t like it. Bring back actually playing in the city you claim.