Super Bowl LII is around the corner. Coming from a family of die hard New England Patriots fans, I could not be more excited. The feeling after your favorite NFL team wins the Super Bowl is one that is indescribable. Yet, while watching the game there is always that pit in your stomach- that fear that you will jinx it for your team. Superstitions are very serious for some people, and in huge games like the Super Bowl, they are not to be taken lightly.
Every year, it seems like a new superstition has come up in my life. For example, whenever the Patriots are in the Super Bowl, I have to wear the exact same outfit, consisting of a Tom Brady jersey and pajama pants with the Patriots logo designed all over. I must post a picture on Instagram of me with whoever I am with at halftime. Of course, whenever the Pats are having a comeback, I cannot sit down. I have to stand in front of the television and not stop moving. I could be dancing or just moving my arms up and down, but I have to be moving.
Samantha and Carly Erickson, sisters at Woodland, also have major superstitions in their family. If the Patriots start to win, they cannot move at all. They have to stay in the exact position they are in until the Patriots win.
Nick DeLucia always has to wear his Gronk socks on game day, while Kelly Mirando wears everything Baltimore Ravens possible. Sam Trumbley always dyes his hair the colors of the New York Giants. Stephen Persico has a giant Pittsburgh Steelers Fathead on his wall in his room, and whenever the Steelers score he has to run up, slap it, and run back downstairs. As you can see Woodland is filled with students with superstitions.
These things don’t always happen just during the game. For example, Sam Erickson went to Woodland’s Media Center on Thursday to place her vote for the Patriots in the Super Bowl poll on the whiteboard. She drew a check mark under the Patriots column, and walked away. She immediately ran back to erase it, because she did not want to jinx her favorite team from winning.
Being a diehard fan, halftime rituals are VERY important, and not out of the ordinary. Prayer circles with candles and repeating, “In Belichick we trust,” have happened before. Getting in only shorts, a hat, and a Rob Gronkowski jersey, jumping into the snow, and laying there as a “sacrifice,” also occurred during the 2016 AFC Championship game against the Broncos. Yet, we no longer do that since they had a heartbreaking loss in that game.
Superstitions have become of a huge part of all sports for some people, not only football. Nobody ever wants to be the person who jinxes their team. Whether it may be just wearing your favorite jersey or something as extreme as not moving the entire game, they mean a lot to people. Millions of people around the world will be superstitioning this Super Bowl Sunday, and I will be, too.
