Do the weird activities and beliefs of famous celebrities give you fun? If it does, then you’ve come to the right place. You often ask, Do you know of any sports players who are superstitious? Yes, we do. This content will tell you about the weirdest superstitions and rituals of various sportspersons. Well, Sportspersons are often known for their strong and capable physique, sharp brains, and calm nature. But many of the athletes have various strange beliefs and they do weird things from those convictions. Let’s see which players and team staff have the weirdest prejudices as we present some Famous Athlete Superstitions.
What is a Sport Superstition?
Superstition in sports refers to certain beliefs or practices believed by the athletes or fans that doing it or not doing it will lead to a positive or negative outcome in the result of the game. Hence, the players with faith from the bottom of their hearts try to maintain some weird rituals so that he/she can obtain success in the game. Generally, these acts seem ridiculous to normal people.
What Sport has the Most Superstitious Athletes?
Which sport has the most superstitions? According to reports, Baseball represents the most number of superstitious athletes or players. Do athletes have superstitions? Yes, many athletes from different sports have various weird superstitions. But based on the number, Baseball players are most superstitious. Are footballers superstitious? Yes, there are many footballers who believe such prejudices that may seem hilarious to you.
Famous Professional Athlete Weirdest Superstitions
See some of the Weirdest Superstitions and Rituals of Famous Athlete or Sportspersons.
Lyoto Machida
Starting this list with one of the weirdest and some may label it as the dirtiest superstitious ritual of a sportsperson. MMA fighter Lyoto Machida who is known as a sensational and headlining fighter at UFC bouts is well-recognized as one of the best in the world. But what is behind his success? Your eyes may not believe what we are telling but the Brazilian regularly drinks his own pee in the morning. He believes that urine has medicinal qualities, and not only he but also his family members regularly drink their own urine.
Midland Portland Cement
The name of this Zimbabwean football club wasn’t famous at all. But one incident brought them under the media spotlight. LA Times revealed that the management team wanted the players to be free from bad spirits. And they made a very weird decision. The managing staff asked the squad members to bathe in the Zambezi River. The river was full of crocodiles and hippos and also possessed strong currents. Hence swimming was banned in this river. But the team management surreptitiously sent 16 squad members to bathe them. And unfortunately, 15 could come out successfully while the other footballer got drowned.
Sergio Goycocheca
Another pee-related ritual on the list! The former Argentine goal-stopper said that he used to pee before every penalty kick that was taken against him. He made many extraordinary saves from the penalty kicks. And prior to every single kick taken against him, the former River Plate man would empty his bladder right on the pitch.
Johan Cruyff
The father of Total Football had a string of bizarre pre-match rituals he used to adhere strictly to. Before kick-offs, the Dutch great used to slap his club teammate, the Ajax gloveman Gert Bals in the stomach. He also found time to meander towards the opponent half and spit his chewing gum onto their side of the pitch. The Barcelona legend forgot to do it before the 1969 European Cup final and his club Ajax tasted bitter defeat against AC Milan.
Pele
Pele, one of the Greatest Of All Time, if not the Greatest, also had an interesting story related to superstitions. Once the 3 times World Cup winner, gave his match shirt to a fan. But then he suffered a dip in the form. And the Brazilian goal machine took it seriously. He instructed his friend to find out the shirt and to bring it to him. The friend returned it to Pele just a week later and the forward once again found himself scoring loads of goals. However, the true story was that his friend could never find that gifted shirt and gave him another piece. But Pele had no idea until when his friend actually admitted it years later. No doubt, he is one of the most famous athlete who had superstitions.
Kevin Rhomberg
It’s the story of a Baseball player who hasn’t had a successful or lengthy career. The only reason why many of the historians mentioned him was his strange behavior on the field. He never turned right! Yeah, you’ve heard it right. If he had to turn right, he used to spin leftward. And if any player, coaching staff, or anybody had touched him, this strange baseball player always made sure that he had touched them back!
John Terry
The UCL winning captain for Chelsea had around 50 superstitions which he had to observe before a game. The former Blues skipper admitted it to The Mirror’s John Cross. Terry revealed that he used to listen to the same Usher CD in the car. He also regularly parked in the same spot, and sat on the same seat on the team bus. This lengthy list also includes him tying the tapes around his socks as many as three times and cutting the tubular grip for his shin pads exactly the same length. The former English international also used the same pair of ‘lucky’ shin pads for ten years.
Turk Wendell
Turk Wendell, the man with plenty of superstitions. He was a crazy character. The Pittsfield, Massachusetts-born baseball player wore the number 99 for most of his career. He had so much affection for this number that he received all his contracts featuring a figure that contained 99 at the end. The former Cubs and Mets man also used to wear oversized necklaces made of animal teeth. While on the mound, this crazy man pitched with four pieces of licorice in his mouth. And at the end of the innings, he exaggerated leap over the foul line and brushed his teeth in the dugout.
Laurent Blanc and Fabien Barthez
In the 1998 FIFA WC, the fans were used to watching Laurent Blanc kissing the shiny bald head of the French goal-stopper Fabien Barthez prior to every kick-off. It was a daily weird ritual and in fact, the French players used to sit in exactly the same seat on the team bus throughout the competition. They also listened to Gloria Gaynor’s feminist anthem ‘I Will Survive’ in their changing room on regular occasions.
Alan Cork
During the 1992-93 campaign Sheffield United frontman Alan Cork promised himself that, he wouldn’t cut his beard as long as his side stayed in the cup run. In that season, The Blades made an unforgettable cup run which saw them reach the semifinal stage. In the semifinal at Wembley, they faced Sheffield Wednesday in a derby game and Cork appeared with loads of beard on his face. The Englishman also put his name on the score sheet while he equalized for his side. Eventually, The Owls made it to the final with a 2-1 victory.
Kolo Toure
Many of the African soccer stars are known for their weird beliefs and activities. Kolo Toure was one of them. The Ivorian always made sure that he was the last player to come onto the pitch. It may seem an ordinary deed but once his teammate Gallas was receiving treatment during a UCL game against Roma. But Kolo Toure refused to enter the field before Gallas. Hence the game started with Arsenal having 9 men on the field. Then the Ivorian entered the pitch without the ref’s permission and saw an immediate yellow card.
John Henderson
6 feet 7 inch giant, the NFL defensive tackle John Henderson is a seriously intense character on the field. During each game day, he loves to get slapped across the face! Well, it might make you understand, how intense he is!
Vladamir Guerrero
This MLB player often appeared with a dirty helmet on his head. But can you imagine, how his helmet got dirty? The Dominican Republic-born right fielder’s helmet used to be covered in dirt from the dugout, pine tar, and the spit of himself and his teammates. In fact, before the start of every season, he put his helmet on the floor of the dugout and lets his mates do whatever they want to it.
Michael Jordan
The greatest professional basketball star of all time used to wear his University of North Carolina shorts under his uniform in every match. In 1982, Jordan led UNC to the NCAA Championships and since then he strongly believed that mesh marvels brought him luck. And to hide his lucky pair, he started wearing longer shorts as well.
Serena Williams
This massive lady also believes in some superstitions. She didn’t change her pair of socks during the whole tournament. Although it may make people feel gross Serena never minded it. Doesn’t matter what happens, the highest female grand slam winner would wear a single pair of socks during any given tournament. She also used to bring her shower sandals to the court and tied her shoelaces a specific way. And you might have noticed her other rituals. She always made the ball bounce five times before her first serve and twice before her second.
Hope, our list of Famous Athlete Weirdest Superstitions has entertained you. It shows how different persons can be based on belief and faith. No doubt, even if those seem hilarious to us, we should have complete respect over others’ beliefs.
