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15 notable US sports curses
Fans and athletes are superstitious bunch. Some often believe that factors outside of their control play vital roles in success or failure.
In baseball, that can be shown in the form of a batter switching gloves to break out of a slump. In other sports, an athlete might not wash their wash their jersey during a winning streak. Maybe facial hair gets a new look. Anything to either flip the script or keep momentum rolling.
One of the wilder superstitions I’ve seen of late relates to Christian Walker of the Houston Astros. He admitted to mirroring a teammate’s shower routine in order to get some good juju. Oddly enough, it seemed to work as he saw a boost at the dish and helped his team overcome an early season slide to make the postseason.
But there are some curses that go far deeper than a midseason slump. These jinxes have created long-term suffering.
15 Notable US Sports Curses.
I’ve gathered a list of more than a dozen notable sports curses across major US leagues. Some are widely known. Others have flown under the radar. All have led to downward spirals that simply can’t be explained by common logic.
Let’s start with maybe the most famous curse of all before working our way through the list.
Curse of the Great Bambino
In 1919, the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. A cloud of doom followed over the franchise for the next century.
Ruth had led Boston to multiple championships. They’d go on an 86-year drought after dealing their star player.
Not only were the Red Sox losing during that time, but they were doing so in heartbreaking fashion. The infamous Bill Buckner error headlines that list of debacles.
The curse was finally broken in 2004, nearly 100 years after the Babe Ruth deal. It will forever go down as one of sport’s wildest curses.
Curse of Bobby Layne
The Lions were an NFL power in the 1950s, winning three championships. That flipped when they sold Bobby Layne to the Steelers in 1958.
Detroit was coming off a title season the year prior. They have not won a championship since.
In most cases, they’ve missed out on the playoffs completely. Detroit became an NFL doormat. In years when the Lions did reach the postseason, they failed miserably.
The team did not win a playoff game between 1958-1990. The streak again re-started in 1992 and stretched another 30+ years. Detroit remains one of four teams that has never been to the Super Bowl. Their closest opportunity came in 2023 when they blew a 17-point lead to the 49ers in the NFC Conference Title Game. Brutal.
Madden Curse
This curse began in 1999. Garrison Hearst was the first ever cover athlete for the popular video game franchise. His next season would end with injury. In the years to follow, no Madden cover athlete was able to shake the voodoo.
The next season, Barry Sanders retired during training camp after making the 2000 cover. Two years later, Daunte Culpepper threw 23 interceptions. Most have either seen production decline or seasons end early the year after landing on the cover. Other victims include Drew Brees, Michael Vick, and Adrian Peterson.
There is hope that the curse has been broken by the likes of Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes. Still, there remains an ominous feeling when athletes make Madden’s front page.
Heisman Curse
This one has layers. There are a few different ways to look at it. Heisman trophy winners have struggled in a variety of areas after nabbing the award.
Some voodoo relates to NFL success, or a lack thereof. That mainly involves quarterbacks, many of whom have busted as pros. Other misfortunes are tied to college team success with Heisman winners struggling to win national championships or bowl games after being named the sport’s best player.
The most notable stat might be the fact that there has been just one repeat winner in NCAA history. Since 1975, no player has gone back-to-back, though many have returned for addition college seasons.
There is bad juju surrounding the award. Winners suffer in one way or another.
Drake Curse
This is a relatively new phenomenon, but it’s one that cannot be denied. Anytime the rapper dons a team’s jersey or lays a wager on a team to win, failure follows.
The Alabama Crimson Tide, Kentucky Wildcats, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Maple Leafs are just a few to fall victim. The curse knows no bounds. No league is safe.
Pottsville Curse
This is the oldest curse in the NFL. The Pottsville Maroons and Chicago Cardinals were tied atop the standings in the 1925 season. There was no official championship game, but Pottsville did beat Chicago to claim its stake as the best team.
The Maroons later scheduled a game in Philadelphia in defiance of the NFL commissioner’s orders. They were stripped of their title as a result. The Cardinals quickly scheduled two quick contests to boost their win percentage after the fact. They then claimed the title, though the league refuses to recognize it.
The Cardinals now have the longest championship drought among major American professional sports teams. They’ve made just one Super Bowl, which was lost in excruciating fashion to the Steelers. Some believe it will endure until the NFL restores Pottsville’s title.
Billy Goat Curse
During Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, Billy Sianis brought his pet goat and local bar mascot to watch the Cubs in Wrigley Field. Fans were reportedly turned off by the smell. Sianis was asked to leave.
It’s said that he later called the organization and cursed the franchise. “You’ll lose this series and every one after it.”
They did, often in painful fashion, up until 2016 when Chicago broke a 108-year championship drought. The curse was officially lifted, though they haven’t returned to the title series since.
Curse of Shoeless Joe Jackson
The 1919 Black Sox game-fixing scandal is one of the most infamous in MLB history. Eight players were accused of intentionally losing the World Series in exchange for payment.
Joe Jackson’s involvement is controversial. The slugger was Chicago’s best player in the series. He admitted to accepting $5,000 from gamblers after the fact, but said he never met for discussions about throwing games. He later recanted his admission and professed innocence. While his involvement is unclear, he was banned by the league.
The White Sox went the next 85 years without a championship before finally winning in 2005. Some believe it was tied to Jackson’s undeserved punishment.
Poop Curse
This is the youngest curse on this sports list but its impact has been felt. It started in 2024 with the unpaid debt of a Florida State fan that promised to eat poop if the Seminoles lost to Boston College. When they did, he disappeared from social media.
The program went from national title contender to bottom feeder in an instant. The ‘Noles went 10-20 over their next 30 games.
There is reason to believe the curse has been passed onto James Madison after a similar exchange. A Dukes supporter made the same wager in 2026. He went radio silent after a loss. In their next game, JMU had five turnovers and dropped a game-winning touchdown to lose as a 20-point favorite.
San Francisco Giants Curse
The Giants moved from New York to California in 1957. Scorned fans in Brooklyn stormed the field after the final home game in the Polo Grounds and stole memorabilia, including a plaque of a former Giant that died in WWI.
They put a hex on the team, swearing that they wouldn’t win a title so long as they stayed in San Francisco.
The team had just won a championship two years prior. It would go the next five decades without a title.
Rocky Colavito Curse
The Cleveland Guardians own the MLB’s longest championship drought. They have not won since 1948. They’ve been cursed since 1960.
That year, star player Rocky Colavito was traded to Detroit after leading the American League in home runs. The Guardians have been losing in painstaking fashion ever since.
In 1997, they failed to hold a ninth inning lead in Game 7 to lose to the Marlins. In 2016, a Game 7 loss to the Cubs helped Chicago break a curse of their own. The franchise is 0-3 in World Series with its drought closing in on 80 years.
Billy Penn Curse
For more than a century, the city of Philadelphia had a height limitation that would not allow any building to be taller than a statue of city founder Williams Penn atop City Hall. In 1987, one building surpassed it.
Over the next two decades, the city’s major sports teams went championship-less. The Eagles lost a Super Bowl. The Sixers lost the NBA Finals. The Flyers dropped a pair of Stanley Cups.
In 2007, workers at a newly built Comcast Center, the tallest building in Philadelphia, placed a small statue of Penn on the final beam. The Phillies won the World Series the following season. Coincidence? I think not.
Curse of the Honey Bears
Bears owner George Halas introduced a team of cheerleaders in Chicago during the 1970s to compete with the Dallas Cowboys. Two years after he died in 1983, his wife shut the squad down.
The final season of the Honey Bears’ existence happened to coincide with the 1985 championship team, widely regarded as one of the best to ever take the field. Since, the Bears have experienced a Super Bowl drought that’s surpassed 40 years.
Kirk Cousins Curse
The majority of player-related sports curses on this list involve players that were once a part of cursed teams. Their departures directly impacted success. This one is quite the opposite.
Kirk Cousins has played 15 NFL seasons with four different teams. He owns a 91-81-2 overall record. For some reason, those wins hold weight despite the fact that he’s been just over .500 as a pro starter.
Teams that lose to Cousins may make the playoffs, but they do not win the Super Bowl. Most don’t make it to the final game. It was a curse that lasted all the way up through 2024.
Philadelphia finally broke through with a Super Bowl win after falling to Cousins in the regular season. To that point, only one other team had played for a Lombardi Trophy after losing to the quarterback, though the 2023 49ers were ultimately beaten by the Chiefs in the finale.
Boat Photo Curse
The Giants were set to face the Packers in January of 2017 after securing a postseason bid. A celebration took place after the playoff-clinching win over Washington.
New York wide receivers made the trek to LIV and found themselves partying with Justin Bieber and Trey Songz at the famed nightclub in Miami Beach. The party lasted until the wee hours of the next morning. The group posed for a photo on a yacht that quickly went viral.
The Giants would then lose their game against Green Bay before slipping into mediocrity. They’ve posted one winning season since, made one playoff appearance, and boast an overall record of 48-106-2 with seven different coaches.
To think, it all started with a picture!