MJ Wright is currently a 20-year-old junior on the Fordham University football team. MJ is originally from Freehold, New Jersey. MJ played high school football at Red Bank Catholic High School.
Contextual Data
Fordham University, a Jesuit university founded in 1841, puts great emphasis and importance in the religious aspect of the university. This religious emphasis carries over onto the Fordham football team in their locker room prior to games with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.
Item
The Lord’s Prayer is a common prayer, recited at almost every Christian mass. The prayer goes:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Informant Comments
The religious aspect of the university is still very important within the football team. This is something I’m used to having attended a Catholic high school where we had a similar tradition.”
RW is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a sophomore (‘24) at Dartmouth College. She is an English major and plans on attending law school. She attended The Mount school in Flourtown, Pennsylvania which is an all-girls Catholic high school. Her mom also attended this high school. Both of RW’s parents were raised Catholic so her and her sibling were also raised Catholic, and they attend church regularly on Sundays.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: RW’s high school, The Mount, was very faith focused. Many members of the administration and teaching staff were Sisters of Saint Joseph which is an order of Catholic Nuns. All four years of high school, students were required to take a religion class. In addition, each Friday the whole school attended church together. The Mount prayer which is unique to her school and was said often throughout the school day.
Social Context: RW remembers the first time that she learned the prayer was during her freshman orientation. She learned it from the principal who was giving a speech at their orientation. It wasn’t until her first test that she learned about the pre-test superstition her new high school had. Before her first test which was a math test in September of her freshman year, her teacher started with The Mount prayer. She soon realized that every other teacher started with The Mount prayer when they had a test that year. After asking a teacher, RW learned that it had been a long-standing superstition that if they said the prayer, they would do well on the test because they would have God’s help and protection. RW and the rest of The Mount student body continued to say this prayer before every test throughout high school. This piece of folklore was collected during an in-person interview with RW.
Item:
Before each test, RW and her classmates would say The Mount prayer: “Gracious god, make me an instrument of unity and reconciliation, so that like you, I may serve the dear neighbor. Amen”.
Transcript:
“My pre-test superstition is saying a prayer before a test or exam. I went to an all-girls catholic high school, and this is where I learned this superstition. Before any test in any class, not just our religion class, we would say our school’s prayer. The prayer is “Gracious god, make me an instrument of unity and reconciliation, so that like you, I may serve the dear neighbor. Amen”. By saying this, we would have good luck and God’s help to do well on the exam. My friends and I who are now in college will still say this prayer to ourselves right before a big test.”
Informant’s Comments:
“I was just talking to my friend the other day, and we were talking about high school, and she said that she still does this before tests. I knew that I still did it, but I was shocked how so many of my friends still said the prayer before test even in college”.
Collector’s Comments:
It was interesting to hear RW talk about her pre-test superstition that she still has today. I went to a Catholic elementary school but then went to a secular high school, so it was interesting hearing how much religion played in her high school academics.
C.B. is a 21-year-old student athlete at Dartmouth College in the class of 2023. He is from Texas and is on the football team. He was raised very closely to his family and has a special relationship to his father.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: Superstitions are important to sports teams. In football there are many players on the team that all contribute to the win. In C.B.’s case, Texas football is one of the most serious things in this country. They have a ton of pride in their teams and victory.
Social Context: Team’s rely on every guy to contribute toward a winning effort. C.B.’s superstition came from his father who may have learned it from his father before him or somewhere else, he wasn’t certain of the whole chain. He is strongly religious in the Christian faith and performs his superstition before every game. This is something that puts Cameron in the most optimal mindset heading into
Item:
The item here is a superstition unique to C.B. Before every game he calls his father on the phone and says a prayer right before he is about to go on the field. He believes that God’s power gives him strength and confidence going into the game and that this will help him perform to the best of his abilities. Another is a team superstition where they all say the same chant before heading out for the game.
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Transcript:
“I pray with my dad before going out to the field before every game. I started this my freshman year in high school when he would physically be with me to do it but now I just call him before each game right as I’m about to go out to the field and he is expecting it as well. This one originated from my faith and just the fact that I want to glorify God before anything else in my life. I definitely believe strongly in this one.”
“As far as team stuff goes, we all start chanting “juice” together loudly in the locker room. Then one of the leaders on the team (it will be the same guy for that whole year) will chant “juice check” three times and then we all finish it off with one more shout saying “juice” And that tradition has been going since I’ve been here”
Informant’s Comments:
He believes in these superstitions and believes in their power to help him perform and the team get a win.
Collector’s Comments:
I think this is a very powerful superstition. It clearly has some power that enables him and their team to perform. They have an extremely good record and won the Ivy League Championship last year.
Ben Taber is a 22-year-old male. He is currently a member of the class of 2022 at Colorado State University. Ben is from Dallas, Texas, where he played football at the Episcopal School of Dallas (ESD).
Contextual Data:
ESD is a religious school that tries to instill Episcopalian values in their students. Students at ESD attend chapel services daily. These religious values extend beyond the chapel services, they are also present in the classroom and on the athletic fields. Coaches at ESD make sure their athletes compete with faith, honor, and sportsmanship in mind.
Item:
In the locker room, immediately before every game, the players at ESD say a prayer together, led by one of the team captains. The text of the prayer is as follows:
Lord as we walk through the Valley of Life
We ask for a chance that it’s fair
A chance to do the right
A chance to do or dare
And if we should win
Let it be by the code
With Faith and Honor held high
And if we should lose
Let us stand by the road
And watch as the winners walk by
(*Voices escalate to a yell*)
A TEAM THAT CAN’T BE BEAT
WON’T BE BEAT
CAN’T HIT, CAN’T WIN
AMEN
This prayer is meant to bring the players closer to God, remind them of the values of the school they are representing, and get them excited to compete. The author of this prayer is unknown, and this tradition has been in place at ESD for at least 10 years.
