I’ve always wondered if my extreme superstitions about sports teams were just my love for a team or something more.
As a Buffalo Bills fan, I know our fan base constantly experiences heartbreak after heartbreak. But for me, the losses became more than a loss on the season; they became an intense thought of personal failure.
Every week of the NFL season, I had small rituals I always made sure I would do before and during the Bills game. I always wore a jersey and could never wash it. I needed a Pepsi by my side and could only drink it when the Bills scored a touchdown. I needed my hands, arms and legs in a specific position for the entirety of the game.
I would make sure that on game day before the game started, I watched a content creator who made skits about the Bills games. I realized that the times when I wouldn’t do this, the Bills would then go on to lose that game. So, it became a must to watch these videos before each game.
While most of these seemed like typical superstition rituals to me, it wasn’t until the 2025 NFL playoffs that I noticed how my superstitions changed how I watched Bills games. It was no longer just a football game to me.
In the playoffs, I intensified my efforts on my superstitions to help the Bills “win” games. I would manifest so much that it was the only thing I could think about during the week.
It wasn’t until the week before the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs that the mental rituals completely consumed me and started impacting my daily activities. They went from mental rituals only on game days to physical rituals I needed to do on a day-to-day basis. After their devastating loss, I felt as if I had contributed to the loss and that there were more things I could have done to prevent it from happening.
Not only did the team fail to secure a win, but I also felt like I had failed because I had put so much of myself into these fixations, and it was all for nothing in the end.
Superstitions can be as simple as not stepping on cracks in the sidewalk or having lucky numbers, but when it comes to sports teams, the outcome of games can directly influence fans who have these outrageous fixations.
As a sports fan, I always thought everyone had some rituals and fixations regarding their favorite team. However, I realized that the extreme measures I took because of the superstitions have affected how I watch Bills games and how they have affected me outside of game day.
These obsessions and fixations can be a direct result of mental disorders, primarily anxiety and OCD. As a disclaimer, I have not been diagnosed with either. Still, I do realize the level I have taken my superstitions to and how it has ultimately negatively impacted my mental health.
While most of these superstitions were pure coincidence, I felt I needed to do certain things for my team and, ultimately, myself to be successful and fulfilled. (Needs more. Maybe …) On Jan. 26, The Bills once again lost the AFC Championship game to the Chiefs in heartbreaking fashion. Naturally, I was devastated. But I know none of it was my fault. And as Bills fans know, there’s always next year. I can drink Coke products, knowing it won’t impact the team. I can finally wash my Bills jersey.
On second thought, they did beat the Chiefs during the regular season with that unwashed jersey. Maybe my rituals only impact the team’s regular season.
I better hold off on that wash, just in case.
