The 20 Most Superstitious Athletes of All-Time

By Jacob Kornhauser

20 Most Superstitious Athletes of All-Time

Charlotte Bobcats v Miami Heat Game 2 — The smallest things can make athletes tick sometimes. Whether it be a pregame routine or something weird they do off the field, plenty of athletes have superstitions. Here are 20 of the most superstitious athletes of all time.

20. Bernard Berrian

Houston Texans v Minnesota Vikings

20. Bernard Berrian

Houston Texans v Minnesota Vikings — Berrian, a relatively average receiver in his day, had a simple pre-game routine. He would shower and then eat an oatmeal cookie right before going out for warmups. It's not that weird, but when it's done before every single game, it begins to seem a little OCD.

19. Brian Urlacher

Brian Urlacher

19. Brian Urlacher

Brian Urlacher — Like Berrian, Urlacher craved a sweet snack before games. He would always eat two chocolate chip cookies before every game. Nothing says ferocious middle linebacker ready to crush skulls like a fresh batch of grandma's cookies.

18. LeBron James

Charlotte Bobcats v Miami Heat - Game Two

18. LeBron James

Charlotte Bobcats v Miami Heat - Game Two — On top of having to remember the scouting report of the opposing team every night, LeBron has to remember a number of handshakes. Before each game, he does a personalized handshake with each member of his team. He has a lot of planning to do with his new Cavs teammates before they open the season in late October.

17. Kevin Garnett

Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets - Game Three

17. Kevin Garnett

Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets - Game Three — Garnett always eats a PB&J exactly an hour before game time. This would seem like a weird routine so close to game time, but his routine actually rubbed off on most of his teammates in Boston to the point where almost the entire team would eat the sandwiches before every game.

16. Jason Marquis

San Diego Padres v St. Louis Cardinals

16. Jason Marquis

San Diego Padres v St. Louis Cardinals — Whenever Marquis was pitching, he never once spit on the mound. If he spit in dirt, he would quickly wipe it away with his cleats. On top of that, with two outs in the ninth of every game, he would unbutton his jacket for good luck.

15. Moises Alou

Fans interfere with catch by Alou

15. Moises Alou

Fans interfere with catch by Alou — In order to toughen his hands, slugger Moises Alou was said to have peed on his hands before the game. Never mind the other methods by which he could toughen his hands, skipping a trip to the bathroom must have surely been worth it for him.

14. Jason Grilli

Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates

14. Jason Grilli

Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates — During Grilli's little league days, he would put a two-sided baseball card on the bottom of his cleat. During days he pitched, he put the side with Nolan Ryan up. When he wasn't pitching, he put Ken Griffey Jr. up. For a little leaguer, Grilli was extremely superstitious.

13. Coco Crisp

Baltimore Orioles v Oakland Athletics

13. Coco Crisp

Baltimore Orioles v Oakland Athletics — Crisp's pre-swing routine is as superstitious as it gets. First he wipes his hands in the dirt, then he spits on his hands and then he wiggles his fingers as if they're numb. It seems to have worked out pretty well for the veteran who has enjoyed a nice, long big league career.

12. Shaquille O'Neal

Reebok Classic Breakout

12. Shaquille O'Neal

Reebok Classic Breakout — Surely, the cleaning crew for whatever team Shaq was playing for loved his spot on the bench. He would reportedly chew four pieces of gum before every game and then stick it under his seat on the bench. It sounds an awful lot like a high school desk.

11. Rajon Rondo

Boston Celtics v Philadelphia 76ers

11. Rajon Rondo

Boston Celtics v Philadelphia 76ers — On game days, Rondo apparently stops caring about water conservation. He reportedly takes five hot showers before every single game to get him ready. Hasn't anyone ever told him to save some for the fishes?

10. Larry Walker

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

10. Larry Walker

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game — Walker was a big fan of the number three. He would set his alarm on increments of 33 minutes, took rounds of batting practice in intervals of three. He even once bought 33 tickets for children when he was with the Expos. It worked out well for the borderline Hall of Famer.

9. Wayne Gretzky

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Qualifying

9. Wayne Gretzky

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Qualifying — "The Great One" had a few superstitions that may have helped him in his rise to the top. For starters, he wouldn't get hair cuts on the road because he did once and the Oilers had a really tough loss. Additionally, when he was getting ready to take the ice, he would only tuck in the right side of his jersey.

8. Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins v Colorado Avalanche

8. Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins v Colorado Avalanche — Crosby may be all smiles most of the time, but his superstition involves some bad manners. On game days, Crosby refuses to talk to his mom on the phone because on days that he had in the past, he got injured. As long as he stays healthy, it's a safe bet that his mom will understand.

7. Jason Terry

Brooklyn Nets v Detroit Pistons

7. Jason Terry

Brooklyn Nets v Detroit Pistons — Terry must have quite the collection of shorts, he has to at least have 30 pairs. That's because the shooting guard wears the shorts of his opponent to bed the night before every game. Just don't let any pictures of that be taken and put onto social media and he should be alright.

6. Wade Boggs

2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

6. Wade Boggs

2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony — During night games, the Hall of Famer had some very specific routines. First of all, he would take batting practice at 5:17. If that's not weird enough, he would then warm up with wind sprints at 7:17. God forbid there be a rain delay or his entire routine would be thrown off.

5. Patrick Roy

2014 NHL Draft - Rounds 2-7

5. Patrick Roy

2014 NHL Draft - Rounds 2-7 — The best goaltender of all time has a good reason for being great. He would talk to the goal. That's right, whenever a puck hit the metal post and was kept out of the net, he would literally talk to the goal post and thank it for keeping the puck out of the back of the net.

4. Jason Giambi

Chicago White Sox v Cleveland Indians

4. Jason Giambi

Chicago White Sox v Cleveland Indians — Thank god baseball players wear less-than-revealing jerseys. If they didn't, we would've all seen Jason Giambi wearing a gold thong by now. Whenever he's in a slump, Giambi reportedly breaks out a gold thong and wears it underneath his jersey for good luck.

3. Les Miles

Outback Bowl - Iowa v LSU

3. Les Miles

Outback Bowl - Iowa v LSU — Miles isn't an athlete, but his superstition is just too weird to be left off this list. The LSU head coach eats grass from the field before every game for good luck. Apparently it's worked pretty well for the Tigers since he took over.

2. Lyoto Machida

UFC 113: Machida v Shogun 2

2. Lyoto Machida

UFC 113: Machida v Shogun 2 — Anyone who is an ultimate fighter is crazy. However, Machida takes the word crazy to a whole new level. As a superstition, Machida drinks his own urine every single day. One would think he could find a more normal, far less nasty way to gain an edge, but whatever works, works.

1. Michael Jordan

Utah Jazz v Charlotte Bobcats

1. Michael Jordan

Utah Jazz v Charlotte Bobcats — With his superstition, Michael Jordan sparked an entirely new trend in the NBA. For good luck, MJ always wore his UNC Tar Heel shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls shorts during games. Since it would look weird if both were the same length, he started wearing longer shorts during games, which is a trend that slowly caught on and is commonplace in the NBA today.

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