Gameday superstitions and rituals with Ray Rice
Ray Rice hasn't gotten a lot of playing time the last couple weeks, but the rookie running back expects to get involved in the offense a bit more today when the Ravens take on the Colts.
I talked with the Rutgers product about his routine on gamedays and asked him if he has any special superstitions when Sundays roll around.
Let's start off at the beginning -- the morning of a game, what's your routine? Do you have a go-to meal that you have every week?
"I stick with an egg-white omlette. After I get that, I just kinda go back to my room and go over some notes. You know, when you're driving to the stadium in your car, you need to get something good going over the speakers."
So what's good? What's going through those speakers on the drive over?
"A little bit of T.I., Lil Wayne, just something to get me hyped."
What about when you get to the stadium, what type of schedule do you stick to once you get close to kickoff?
"Listen to music, stretch, get in the hot tub. I've got to have different kinds of music. When I first get into the locker room I've got my 'get hyped' music. Then I like to get into like a relaxed mode, settle down, get into some slow music.
"After I get stretched, I come back out and get taped, say a little prayer in my locker, and then I'm ready to go. That's it, something simple. Real simple routine, I just make sure I'm ready to play."
Some guys wear the same gloves every game or put on their pads in a certain order every time. Do you have any superstitions, anything that you consistantly do every week?
"I can't put on my pads without rubbing oil on my body. I feel like it's something that covers me, it's like a protectant. I can't go out there without rubbing oil and lotion on myself. That I can't do, I can't do anything before I do that first."
What about your emotions on gameday? Are you nervous, excited, calm?
"I'm calm until I see the other color. When I see the other color -- the other team, I get amped up. I can't see the other color. It doesn't matter if I was walking inside and I saw the other color, I get angry. I just can't wait to hit somebody, that kind of feeling."
In the huddle, when you know a play is coming to you, do you get pumped, or do you stay focused and get let things happen?
"You've got to be calm because when your emotions are riding too high, that's when you tend to make mistakes because you're thinking too much. You've got to be calm, you know? Once it slows down, and you're calm, you let the play work for itself."
Check out the gameday superstitions and rituals of:
Mark Clayton
Jim Leonhard
Adam Terry
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