Leandre Griffit said a few people warned him against a wearing a certain number when he joined the Crew almost a year ago. And it wasn’t that he was about to take the digits of a former great, such as the No. 20 of Brian McBride.
No, instead Griffit took the supposedly unlucky No. 13.
“Some fans actually told me, ‘Don’t take the number,’” the French midfielder said. “I’m superstitious for some stuff, but not numbers so much. I said I’m OK with that.”
That means he doesn’t have triskaidekaphobia — the fear of the numeral 13.
But on a day when superstitions will come into play perhaps more than any other this year (Friday is the only Friday the 13th this year), Griffit and fellow members of the Crew aren’t shying away from their own superstitions.
Equipment manager Rusty Wummel, for example, told Griffit not to wear No. 13 when he signed with the club last season.
“He said, ‘You don’t want 13 for sure,’” Griffit said. “I said actually I would. I don’t really think about 13 that way.”
That means Griffit doesn’t suffer from triskaidekaphobia, nor is a paraskevidekatriaphobic (one who fears Friday the 13th). He does, however, admit to having a superstitious streak.
“I never shave the day of game,” he said.
Other Crew members, meanwhile, also admitted to having superstitions.
“If I do score with those shoes, I will wear those shoes the next game for sure,” forward Justin Meram said. “I always clean them up. They can’t have any dirt on them for any game. You look clean, you play clean, you play good.”
Captain Chad Marshall said his pregame ritual at home since 2004 includes the Floridian French Toast (“Sourdough French toast, with wheat germ and powdered cinnamon sugar, covered with fresh bananas, kiwi and berries,” he said) at a First Watch restaurant.
Rookie midfielder Andy Adlard has to put on the right shoe before the left, and the right shin guard before the other.
“I used to idol Michael Owen when I was young,” he said of the English striker. “I read a book that my grandpa got. He actually said his superstition was that. I did that before one game and scored a hat trick, I think.”
