Drew Brees on the cover of Madden 11, hoping to avoid jinx

Super Bowl champion Drew Brees is your new Madden coverboy, it was revealed earlier today. The 2011 edition will be ready for public consumption on Aug. 10.

Stretch those thumbs out.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback edged out Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen and Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne in the first ever fan voting campaign.

The Madden cover is a tricky deal. Obviously, the player gracing it had to have turned in a stellar season the year before — and is often coming off a Super Bowl win. But the elephant in the room is the so-called “Madden Curse,” which has struck Troy Polamalu, Shaun Alexander, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Garrison Hearst among others.

Brees said he isn’t worried about any bad luck coming along with the honor.

He told the Brees told the Times-Picayune last week he’s not afraid of the curse, saying: “I’m not rooting against it . . . If it does happen, just like records are made to be broken, curses are made to be broken too. If the fans have spoken, if I am indeed their vote, then I’ll do my best to break that trend.”

Brave words from Mr. Brees. It sounds like he’s got the right mindset to avoid any bad cosmic mojo.

Now, the possible karmatic brushback from running back Reggie Bush’s dumping of reality television star Kim Kardashian? The jury’s still out on that.