Sitting around the campfire and telling ghost stories is a timeless Halloween tradition. From tales of headless horsemen to spirits that haunt towns, many can spin a story capable of creating chills in the audience. For certain sports fans though, the stories of curses and jinxes aren’t just tall tales — they’re reality.
Take the Detroit Lions, for instance. In 1948, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Texas Longhorns quarterback Bobby Layne, who bounced around the league before winding up playing for the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1958. Layne was incredible for the Lions, winning three NFL championships (‘52, ‘53 and ‘57) and racking up impressive stats. However, halfway through the 1958 season, Layne was traded back to Pittsburgh, where he would remain until the end of his playing career.
Enraged by the trade that took him away from the franchise he had poured his heart and body into, Layne reportedly declared, “The Lions won’t win for 50 years.” There is much debate over whether Layne actually said those words, but their effects have been seen ever since. Since 1959, the Lions have had the worst winning percentage of the 12 teams in the NFL at the time and have only won one playoff game: a 38-6 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1991-92 season. In 2008, the final year of the supposed curse the Lions went 0-16, becoming the first team in NFL history to lose all 16 games of the regular season.
Of course, “curses” against a team could just be a matter of bad luck. Teams go through ups and downs, and some downs can last longer than others. Sometimes, poor performance can be a matter of coincidence and bad timing.
One player who has become an informal master of poor timing is Philadelphia Phillies and former Cincinnati Reds right fielder, Nick Castellanos. In a moment that has since become one of the most viral memes in sports, Fox Sports Ohio broadcaster Thom Brennaman was caught using a homophobic slur on a “hot mic” during a game in 2020. Just as Brennaman was making an on-air apology, Castellanos hit a solo home run deep into left field to extend the Reds’ lead. Perhaps by fate or by sheer coincidence, Castellanos’ ball landed in the middle of the Planet Fitness “Judgement Free Zone,” only adding to the irony of the event.
This would not be the first or last time that Castellanos would make an impact at a bad time. Castellanos has hit a home run in multiple unfortunate circumstances, including in the middle of an eulogy to a Kansas City broadcaster’s father, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, during a Memorial Day tribute, on the same day as the capture of Osama Bin Laden and others.
Sometimes, curses can affect not just athletes or teams but entire sports. In motorsports, the “Home Race Curse” has affected drivers for decades. Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc is the most well-known example, with the Monaco-born driver finishing only one race at Monaco since 2017. Other well-known examples of the Home Race Curse include the Australian F1 drivers, who have never even stood on the podium since the birth of the Australian Grand Prix in 1985. Aussie Daniel Ricciardo finished second in 2014, but he was later disqualified due to a technical rules violation involving the car’s fuel use.
Sometimes, this curse even affects entire families, with the Andretti Curse at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway serving as the most famous example. Following Mario Andretti’s win in the 1969 Indianapolis 500, the family has seen nothing but heartbreak at the Brickyard. Despite the family making 78 starts since that 1969 victory, no Andretti has won the 500, though they have had limited success as team owners.
For some, the scary stories of magic and curses are just easily ignored superstitions. For others, they are simply a way to explain the unexplainable. We’ll never know whether Bobby Layne put a hex on Detroit or if Nick Castellanos has a hand in unfortunate events. For teams and athletes doing well, it’s easy to laugh at the idea of curses. But for those suffering through painful defeats and long periods without success, putting it down to a curse may help ease the sting just a little bit.
