Bizarre Superstitions Some Athletes Believe
Athletes train for years to reach the top of their sport. They work out daily, study game film, and perfect their techniques.
But when game day arrives, many of them rely on something that has nothing to do with physical ability: superstitions. These rituals and beliefs might seem odd to outsiders, but for the athletes who follow them, breaking these habits feels like inviting disaster.
Professional sports are full of these strange practices. Here are some of the most unusual superstitions athletes have sworn by over the years.
Wade Boggs ate chicken before every single game
Baseball legend Wade Boggs consumed chicken every day for twenty years during his playing career. He didn’t just eat it occasionally or on game days.
This happened every single day, whether it was the off-season or playoff time. Boggs believed this routine helped him maintain his incredible batting average, and he stuck with it throughout his Hall of Fame career.
His teammates started calling him ‘Chicken Man’ because of this unwavering habit.
Serena Williams wore the same unwashed socks during winning streaks
Tennis champion Serena Williams refused to wash her socks when she was on a hot streak. She also wore the same outfit throughout an entire tournament if she kept winning.
The superstar brought her shower sandals to the court in a specific order and tied her shoes in a particular sequence. Williams bounced the tennis orb exactly five times before her first serve and twice before her second.
These routines gave her a sense of control in a sport where so much can go wrong.
Michael Jordan wore his college shorts under his uniform
Basketball icon Michael Jordan kept his North Carolina practice shorts from college and wore them under his Chicago Bulls uniform for every professional game. This meant he needed longer shorts on the outside to hide them, which actually started a trend in the NBA.
Other players began wearing longer shorts too, not knowing they were copying a superstition. Jordan felt connected to his college success through those shorts and refused to play without them.
Turk Wendell brushed his teeth between innings
Major League pitcher Turk Wendell had one of the strangest routines in baseball history. He brushed his teeth in the dugout between every inning he pitched.
Wendell also chewed black licorice during games and insisted on having exactly four pieces at all times. He drew three crosses in the dirt near the mound before pitching and leaped over the baseline whenever he ran on or off the field.
The eccentric pitcher believed all these actions kept him sharp and focused.
Lyoto Machida drank his own urine every morning
Mixed martial arts fighter Lyoto Machida admitted he drank a glass of his own urine first thing each morning. He learned this practice from his father, who believed it cleaned the body and boosted health.
Machida followed this routine throughout his fighting career, crediting it with helping him stay healthy and strong. While doctors question whether this actually provides any benefits, Machida remained convinced it gave him an edge in the octagon.
Patrick Roy talked to his goalposts
Hockey goaltender Patrick Roy had full conversations with his goalposts before games and during breaks. He would skate over and talk to them like old friends, thanking them for their help.
Roy also refused to let anyone touch his equipment and had a specific way he arranged everything in his locker. The legendary goalie believed the posts were part of his team, and maintaining this relationship helped him make impossible saves.
Pelle Lindbergh wore the same orange t-shirt for years
Swedish hockey goalie Pelle Lindbergh wore the same ratty orange t-shirt under his gear for his entire professional career. The shirt became so worn and torn that it barely held together, but Lindbergh refused to replace it.
His teammates joked about the smell, but nobody dared suggest he get a new one. The shirt represented all his past successes, and changing it felt like abandoning everything he had accomplished.
Brian Urlacher ate two chocolate chip cookies before games
NFL linebacker Brian Urlacher followed a precise pregame meal routine that ended with exactly two chocolate chip cookies. Not one, not three. Always two.
He ate the same breakfast, the same lunch, and those cookies at the same time before every game for years. Urlacher claimed this ritual helped him feel prepared and ready to hit the field. Any deviation from this schedule made him feel off his game.
Moises Alou urinated on his hands
Baseball outfielder Moises Alou skipped batting gloves entirely and instead urinated on his hands to toughen them up. He believed this kept his palms hard and prevented blisters better than any glove could.
Several other players admitted to doing the same thing, though most people find the practice pretty disgusting. Alou swore it worked and never had problems with his grip during his long career.
Bjorn Borg grew his beard during Wimbledon
Tennis legend Bjorn Borg stopped shaving once the Wimbledon tournament started each year. He believed his beard brought him luck at the prestigious event, where he won five consecutive championships.
Borg also wore the same Fila shirt for every match and used the same racket without restringing it during tournaments. These habits became so famous that fans knew they were watching peak Borg when they saw the beard come out.
Jason Terry wore the opposing team’s shorts to bed
NBA player Jason Terry slept in the shorts of whatever team he was playing against the next night. He collected jerseys and shorts from every team in the league just for this purpose.
Terry believed this helped him visualize beating his opponents and gave him confidence when he stepped on the court. His wife thought the habit was completely ridiculous, but Terry maintained it throughout his basketball career.
Caron Butler chewed straws constantly
Basketball player Caron Butler chewed plastic straws during games until the NBA banned the practice for safety reasons. He would go through multiple straws per game, chewing them nervously on the bench and during timeouts.
The habit started as a way to quit other habits, but it became a full-blown superstition. When the league told him to stop, Butler struggled to find a replacement ritual that felt right.
Gustav Weder carried a Mozart tape
Swiss Olympic bobsledder Gustav Weder never competed without bringing along a cassette tape of Mozart’s music. He didn’t necessarily listen to it before races.
The tape just needed to be with him, somewhere nearby. Weder won gold medals while carrying this tape and refused to consider competing without it.
Even when cassette players became outdated, he kept that same worn tape as his good luck charm.
John Henderson gets slapped before matches
Mixed martial arts fighter John Henderson asks someone to slap him hard across the face before every fight. The slap leaves a bright red mark on his cheek that stays visible during the match.
Henderson says this wakes him up and gets his adrenaline pumping in just the right way. Other fighters have their own warm-up routines, but getting deliberately slapped stands out as particularly unusual.
Richie Ashburn slept with his bat
Baseball player Richie Ashburn took his bat to bed with him when he was in a hitting slump. He cuddled with the wooden bat all night, hoping it would remember how to get hits.
Ashburn believed the bat needed a reminder of what it was supposed to do. His teammates found the habit hilarious, but Ashburn didn’t care what anyone thought.
If sleeping with a bat could end a slump, he was willing to do it.
Laurent Blanc kissed the goalkeeper’s head
French soccer player Laurent Blanc kissed goalkeeper Fabien Barthez’s bald head before every match. This started during the 1998 World Cup and continued throughout their time playing together.
Blanc felt the ritual brought the team luck, and since France won the World Cup that year, he had good reason to keep it going. Barthez went along with it, though he probably found it a bit odd having his head kissed before running onto the field.
Les Miles ate grass from the field
College football coach Les Miles would grab grass from the field and eat it during games. Cameras caught him doing this multiple times over the years at different stadiums.
Miles claimed he just wanted to taste the grass to see what kind of field his team was playing on, but it became such a regular occurrence that fans started expecting it. The habit earned him the nickname ‘The Mad Hatter’ and became part of his coaching legend.
Why these rituals still matter today
Athletes continue inventing new superstitions even as sports become more scientific and data-driven. The pressure of competition creates a need for control, and rituals provide comfort when outcomes feel uncertain.
Whether it’s wearing lucky socks or following elaborate pregame routines, these habits help players feel confident when millions of people are watching. Sports psychology now recognizes that these superstitions might not bring actual luck, but they create mental preparation and consistency that genuinely affects performance.
The human need to find patterns and control chaos shows up everywhere, and athletics just puts it on display for everyone to see.
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