Oct 8 2006

Ruben Brown was a wide-eyed Buffalo Bills rookie in 1995 when he heard the sounds of retching in the locker room bathroom before a game.

Brown figured one or two of his teammates were battling a case of nerves, or perhaps a tainted helping from the pregame buffet.

It turned out Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and offensive lineman Glenn Parker were forcing themselves to throw up.

"If they didn't puke before a game, they didn't feel right about going out there," Brown said.

That ritual is among the most outlandish of the NFL's many examples of superstitions, the pregame rites and routines that help put players' minds at ease before games.

Major League Baseball players, who compete almost every day and seek to maintain a good rhythm over the course of the season, are said to be more superstitious as a whole. But NFL players are not far behind.

"It's a coping mechanism to deal with the pressure to succeed," sports psychologist Richard Lustberg said. "They begin to believe – they in fact want to believe – that their routine of choice is enhancing their performance. In reality, it's just practice and confidence that make them perform better."

Superstitious routines can have a cyclical effect on an athlete, Lustberg said. If the player thinks a positive performance stems from a certain superstition, he will repeat the act and possibly derive increased confidence from doing it.

That increased confidence, Lustberg said, often allows the player to perform at a higher level than he would otherwise.

"Then, all of a sudden, you end up being successful," Lustberg said. "It's not what you wear under your jersey. It's not what you eat before the game. It's the belief that you will succeed."

Players prefer not to analyze their superstitions in such a manner. They just know what they do works, at least often enough.

So Bears quarterback Rex Grossman always eats a hamburger the night before a game and makes sure to shower between pregame warmups and kickoff.

Wide receiver Airese Currie, now on injured reserve and out for the season, dresses for games the same way every week – pants, socks and shoes, then undershirt, jersey and shoulder pads.

Once, at Clemson, Currie had to wait while a team staff member fetched him some socks after he soiled a pair during warmups on a rain-drenched field. The delay took a while, but Currie sat in his locker stall in nothing but his pants because he refused to don any other piece of clothing before the socks.

The Bears' tight ends have dined together the night before games this season. The outings are partly about fostering camaraderie, but John Gilmore said there is an element of superstition to them as well.

"If we lost, we'd have to think about whether we want to keep doing it," Gilmore said. "Maybe we'd take a week off or something."

Players, though, almost universally stick with their superstitions even after a few bad performances. It might take a long string of losses or a severe downturn in performance for them to change.

Detroit Lions cornerback Dre Bly personally washes his car the day before every home game and said the team's frequent losing the last few seasons has not weaned him off the habit.

Bly said the only way he would consider changing his routine is if he gets seriously hurt or has such a bad game that "it's just embarrassing how much I stunk."

"It's something that starts to get me in a good state of mind for the game," Bly said. "I don't worry that if we lose, I should stop doing it. It's kind of part of my preparation. It's like if you tell me we lose, that means I should stop practicing or working out during the week."

Maintaining some superstitions requires work throughout the week. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson wears the same undershirt before every practice during a particular season – which, of course, requires somebody to wash it every day.

Johnson does not usually do any of his own laundry, but he makes an exception if his shirt needs cleaning.

"Then I'll throw it in the machine at home, even if there's nothing else in the [laundry] basket," he said. "Strange but true."

Other superstitions take effect only in the hours leading up to a game. Bears wide receiver Rashied Davis does exactly 10 laps around the field during warmups, starting at a moderate pace and accelerating each time until he builds to a jog before slowing back down to a walk

Bly, meanwhile, refuses to walk under the goal posts before any game.

"It's kind of like not walking under a ladder, I guess," he said.

Certain positions may be more likely than others to spawn superstitious players. Minnesota's Johnson thinks quarterbacks and kickers are usually the most superstitious because they are on the spot the most during the course of a game.

"We're in the spotlight," Johnson said. "It's not like we have any more pressure on us than anyone else, because everyone is responsible when a team wins or loses.

"But we're the ones who, if we mess up, everyone is likely to notice and be talking about it the next day. I think that maybe makes us more [inclined] to be [superstitious]."

Wide receivers might muff a catch out in the open, Johnson said, but they usually have a pretty good alibi.

"They can just blame the quarterback," he quipped, "not their bad luck."

Players who are not superstitious might find certain pregame rituals peculiar, but they avoid making fun of players who buy into the powers of whichever routine.

Bears safety Mike Brown said as long as a player's pregame habits do not interfere with anyone else in the locker room, it is nobody else's business.

"Whatever they need to do to get ready to play," Brown said. "I don't do anything special, but in the time leading up to that final get-together in the middle of the [locker] room, you're pretty much in your own little world. If guys do [adhere to a superstition], I probably wouldn't even notice, and I'm sure I wouldn't care."

It is hard to find any player who once was superstitious but no longer is. Players either are, or they are not.

Ruben Brown, back in the day with the Bills, never considered joining Kelly and Parker in pregame vomit sessions. The 12-year veteran said too many variants exist in the week-to-week life of an NFL player to think superstitions make a difference.

"Too much changes," Brown said. "It's not worth getting your hopes up or hanging your hat on any kind of magic or karma or anything."


* Nick Hut is a sportswriter for the NorthWest News Group. Write to him at nhut@nwnewsgroup.com.



OUT THERE


Five sportsmen famous for being superstitious


1. Kevin Rhomberg, MLB

In a short stint with the Cleveland Indians in the early 1980s, Rhomberg drove teammates and opponents crazy with his bizarre need to touch any person who had touched him. If tagged while on base, Rhomberg would wait until the end of the inning and then chase down the infielder and touch him before he reached the dugout.


2. Pelle Lindbergh, NHL

The late Philadelphia Flyers goalie wore the same old orange T-shirt from a Swedish sporting goods company under his equipment. If it began to fall apart, he asked someone to sew it back up. He refused to drink anything other than a Swedish beverage called Pripps in between periods and would only take a sip if there were exactly two ice cubes in the cup.


3. Wade Boggs, MLB

The Hall of Fame third baseman was known as the "Chicken Man" because he would eat poultry before every game. Among many other compulsions, he took exactly 150 ground balls during infield practice and wrote the Hebrew word for "life" into the dirt of the batter's box before each at-bat.


4. Turk Wendell, MLB

The journeyman reliever became famous for brushing his teeth between innings. He chewed four sticks of licorice while pitching, then sprinted back to the dugout after the third out – making sure to leap over the baseline – and go straight for his toothbrush. He repeated that routine every time he pitched.


5. Mark Fidrych, MLB

"The Bird" could pitch, but he also became a cult figure for a routine that included talking to the ball on a regular basis while on the mound.



COMMON SUPERSTITIONS


Baseball

* Spitting into your hand before picking up the bat.

* Sticking a wad of gum on your hand.

* Stepping on one of the bases before running off the field at the end of an inning.


Basketball

* Being the last person to shoot a basket during warm-ups.

* Wiping the soles of your sneakers.


Football

* Seeking out a uniform with double numbers (e.g. 22).

* Avoiding taking a new number when going to another team.


Hockey

* Avoiding saying "shutout" in the dressing room before a game.

* Tapping the goalie on his shin pads for good luck.