The celebrity curse

Our society has an obsession with celebrities.  People are drawn to the glamour of their lifestyles and find entertainment in tracking them through tabloids and magazines.  These media outlets take particular interest in the love lives of these celebrities, especially when two famous people start dating each other.  The couple may find it difficult to stay out of the spotlight, which can put a lot of pressure on them when every aspect of their relationship is scrutinized by a large group of strangers all over the country.  This can become problematic for professional athletes in this situation, as the added pressure can often become a distraction and impact their careers.  It's almost as if athletes that date celebrities are doomed to become cursed for the duration of the relationship.

One of the biggest examples of this is when Tony Romo dated Jessica Simpson.  Many considered the former pop star to be a bad luck charm for the Cowboys and an unnecessary distraction for Romo.  These concerns became magnified when the couple was spotted vacationing in Mexico the week before the Cowboys playoff game.  Romo was criticized for not being focused on the game and for not holding his vacation plans until after the postseason.  Considering the Cowboys would go on to lose that game, those concerns may have been warranted.  The couple split in the summer of 2009 and Romo went on to have one of the best seasons of his career, including his first career postseason win.

While Romo may be the best example of this curse, he's hardly the only one.  Matt Kemp dated Rihanna in 2010 and saw his production decline sharply that season, while appearing distracted and unmotivated.  After they broke up, Kemp went on to have a monster season in 2011 and was the runner up in the NL MVP race.  Lamar Odom's relationship with Khloe Kardashian has turned into a plot line for a reality TV show, which certainly has to have impacted his focus on basketball.  While Odom had a pretty good regular season, the Lakers failed to defend their title last year after being swept in the second round of the playoffs by Dallas.  An unhappy Odom was shipped to Dallas before the start of this season and his production has dropped off dramatically ever since.  Even Mark Sanchez may have been impacted by the curse just for being rumored to be dating Hayden Panettiere.  His production declined and he may now be on the verge of losing his status as the Jets franchise QB.  As it turns out, Sanchez and the former Heroes star are just friends, but Panettiere is dating his friend, and former Jet, Scotty McKnight.  The Jets cut McKnight earlier this season, but the damage may have been already done, as a struggling Sanchez failed to get the Jets to the playoffs.

The only athlete that appears to be immune to the curse is Derek Jeter, who has run through an impressive list of actresses and models in his dating history while still managing to gather 5 Wold Series titles.  There are exceptions to every rule, so maybe the Yankees shortstop is the one here.

This all leads us back to perhaps the biggest of the celebrity couples - Tom Brady and Gisele.  As the Patriots prepare to take on the Giants in the Super Bowl this weekend, one fact hangs over them like a dark cloud.  The Patriots have not won a Super Bowl since Brady and Gisele got together.  While Brady piled up titles in his first few years as a starter, winning three in a four year span, he hasn't won the big game since 2004.  Sure, he's won two MVP awards, set a single season record for TD passes, had a 5,000+ yard season and established himself as one of the all time greats since then, but ever since he slipped a ring on the Gisele's slender finger, he's failed to earn another championship ring for himself.  The closest he has come since his relationship with the super model was in 2007, when the Patriots lost in gut wrenching fashion to this same Giants team in the Super Bowl to ruin their perfect season.  The following year Brady was lost to a season ending injury and the Pats failed to win another playoff game until this year.

Should this be a cause of concern for the Patriots this weekend?  Perhaps.  If Brady can't get the job done on Sunday, it could be the latest example of the curse.  What then?  At that point Brady may be forced into the difficult decision of whether or not to leave Gisele.  His legacy may depend on it.  Other athletes have found redemption following a high profile break up, so that may be the cure Brady needs in order to obtain that elusive 4th title.  Hopefully Brady will be able to break the curse on his own with a victory on Sunday.  If not, we may be headed for the end of yet another celebrity relationship.  It's for his own good.

Or... maybe this whole curse is just a ridiculous coincidence that has no impact on this game.  Perhaps we'll find out on Sunday.