Kurt Warner doesn't believe in superstitions...or does he??

Religion overtakes superstition. This is what Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Kurt Warner, says he believes. It is why he picked the number 13 to be his jersey number. A born Christian, Warner says that his faith informs of everything, including his jersey number. He chose 13 because spirituality has no room for superstition. Now this is very ironic to me because he chose the number 13 because of the superstition that 13 is an unlucky number. The number and Warner have gone back and forth with Warner getting the best of it a majority of the time. After Warner won the Super Bowl with the Rams, the number probably caused the emergence of Tom Brady and Warner's loss in the next Super Bowl he appeared in. After that, it appeared 13 had gotten the best of him as he was seen as a backup quarterback at best. A wily veteran who was meant to mentor the future quarterbacks of organizations. That didn't sit well for Warner in New York with the Giants so he left for Arizona, smart move on Warner's part. Lucky for him, Matt Leinart was only good in college and choked under pressure in the NFL, opening the door for #13 once again and Warner took advantage of it. Making it to his third Super Bowl last year, Warner showed he was still one of the top quarterbacks in the league, even though he lost in the big game... again. So although he did get to the Super Bowl three times, he only tasted victory once. And if Santonio Holmes doesn't make a fantastic catch at the end of last year's Super Bowl, Warner would have gotten his second ring, seems kind of unlucky if you ask me. So for a guy who doesn't believe in superstitions, it seems as though his career says otherwise. Only four other players in the entire league have the jersey number 13, one of which is on the Rams, which might explain why they can't win. The only way they can win is if the number 13 jersey is worn by Warner, so the backup quarterback who wears it, Brock Berlin, is the reason the Rams are terrible.

-Josh

Pre-Game Slap Attack

Most NFL players get pumped before each game or have a pre-game ritual. Most of the time it could be knocking into one another player on your team or listening to their favorite playlist on their ipod. John Henderson is an exception to that stereotype. Before each game the trainer for the Jacksonville Jaguars is asked by Mr. Henderson to slap him, yes, slap him as hard as possible in the face. A big 335lb man is willingly asking to be slapped in the face. If you don't believe it, then take a look at this video.



Believe it now?

John Henderson isn't the only NFL player to have an interesting pre-game ritual. Marshall Faulk, former running back of the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams habitually, without fail, wore black on his way to the stadium. Even Curtis Martin, running back for the New York Jets reads Psalm 91 before each game. Do these players truly believe what they wear or what they read, or even pre-game physical pain is going to alter the game?

The more competitive the league gets, the stranger the superstitions of these players seem to be.

-Heather

The Madden Curse

What would a blog about superstitions be without the well known “Madden Curse?” Madden has become one of the most popular video games for Xbox and Play Station 3 all around the world. Boys and even girls (hell yes I play Madden) everywhere wait in line outside local stores where these game will be sold at exactly midnight. Now obviously we all get joy out of making our own draft picks and seeing the excitement of a professional football game through our own video game consuls. We can argue with our friends about whose picks are better, who has the best defense, and who is going to do the best touch down dance in the end zone. To us this is all good fun and these players aren’t real….so they can’t get affected by the game right? I mean it is just a game….right?



There is this big conspiracy that which ever player is on the cover of the newest Madden each year, something bad always happens to him that following season whether it be bad playing, and injury, or a sudden change in attitude. The very first Madden game came out in 1990 and until 1999 John Madden himself was only on the cover of his. The very first player to be on the cover of Madden was Garrison Hearst who at the time was on the San Francisco 49ers….Hearst suffered a broken ankle in the divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons. The severe break required Hearst to miss two full NFL seasons. Pretty odd that the first person ever to be on the cover of Madden suffered such an injury but at this point it was just a coincidence….As the years have gone on, and new players make the cover of John Maddens famous game, so do the injuries and unfortunate fatalities.

2000 Barry Sanders: He suddenly retired in July before the start of the 1999 season.

2001 Eddie George: Failed to break 1000 yards and Tennessee missed the playoffs going 7-9.

2002 Dante Culpepper: Missed 4 games with injury, threw for 1300 less yards and 19 less touchdowns then in 2000. Minnesota's worst record since 1984.

2003 Marshall Faulk: supposidly this was Faulk's worst season since 1996.

2004 Michal Vick: Missed the first 11 games because of a broken leg


2005 Ray Lewis: Numbers were down from the previous years in his career.

2006 Donavan McNabb: After week 9, he suffered a hernia and was not the same for the entire season. The Eagles finished 6-10, in last place, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

2007 Shaun Alexander: missed 6 regular season games with a broken foot.

2008 Vince Young: lost to the Chargers in the first round of the playoffs.

2009 Brett Favre: injured his throwing arm, the season collapsed quickly. Favre threw 6 less touch downs and 7 more interceptions then in 2007. The Jets finished 9-7 after starting 8-3 and missed the playoffs.

2010 Larry Fitzgerald AND Troy Polamalu…….TO BE DETERMINED! uh ohhh…

If I were these guys….I wouldn’t want my face on the game of Madden no matter how amazing I am at football. It is pretty ironic but also pretty scary.

-Meagan

Cookie Monster

While most NFL players might put their right shoe on before their left as a "pre game" ritual...Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears has to eat exactly two chocolate chip cookies before every single game. Any less or any more will psych him out. Sounds like he watched a lot of Sesame Street as a kid and can’t decide if he likes Count Chocula or The Cookie Monster better...but hey whatever works for you. Considering his injury this season, I am thinking he might have gotten a little hungry and snuck in an extra cookie.....because unfortunately his season is over this year.

-Meagan

Jared Allen

So, usually NFL players wear the same pair of cleats throughout the season because they like to break them in so they feel good. This is not the case with Jared Allen, currently a player for the Minnesota Vikings. Instead of staying with the same pair of cleats he buys a new pair every game. He also does this with his gloves. In this video he describes some of his past superstitions, and the one about the cleats and gloves.





As we can see Allen use to have some pretty crazy superstitions in the past. It seems as if they're working for him though because he continues to preform well on the field year in and year out. Here's some quick information about his career so far: He is a two time pro bowler, played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2004-2008 and was traded to his current team the Minnesota Vikings.

-Dylan

How the Saints get pumped...

As you can see, pumping a team up for a game is something not just anyone can do. Once you find the leader that inspires the team like no other, it is about finding the right ritual that all of the team believes will get them ready to play well, whether they need that ritual or not to play well is up to you to decide. For the New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees is the man and everyone around him knows it. Last season he had another great year and he took the pregame ritual from the movie "300," where the spartans all yell in unison after their leader asks them what their profession is. Brees modified this a bit and as you can see in the video above and at the end of it he yells "This is New Orleans!." The Saints did this before every game last year during what was a mediocre season. Brees knew he had to come up with something new and different to inspire his team and when he visited troops and did a morning boot camp with them he learned a chant which he thought would be perfect for the team. That chant is the bottom link above and no one really knows what they are saying and Brees isn't about to tell anyone either. All of this is proof to how they have to start the game the same way for the entire season, and when that doesn't work they have to start all over again next year with something new. Does yelling and screaming in unison actually help their performances on the field? Well there really is no way to tell but I know I get pumped up just watching the videos, so maybe a pregame ritual does have something to do with performance. After all, the Saints are still perfect, so maybe they are on to something...

-Josh

Car Wash

To many, washing your car might be looked at as a chore or inconvenience. To Dre Bly, washing your car is simply a way of life. The current Denver Broncos cornerback washes his car before every home game, whether or not they won the last game doesn’t matter. Even when Bly was playing for the Lions, who couldn’t win even if they received all the points they were getting from the spread, he practiced the routine. Bly said why should he stop after a loss, it’s like saying you should stop practicing and working out after every loss as well. One has to wonder if that’s what the Lions actually did and if so, well I guess teams as a whole have superstitions as well. I’m guessing Bly is going to continue to wash his car despite the Broncos 3 game losing streak however at least he is washing something, unlike veteran free agent quarterback Brad Johnson who wore the same undershirt in practice throughout the whole season. At the end of the day win or lose, at least Bly has a fresh ride to go to practice every day in which probably counts for a lot in the NFL, in some cases, (coughDetroitcough) it may even matter more than winning.

-Chris