“The smell of disappointment”: This incredibly quirky ritual of the Panthers’ OL Coach James Campen has NFL fans perplexed
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James Campen
We all have a ritual or custom that is personalized to us, for some it could be as simple as praying before we get onto a football field, athletes really believe in adhering to these rituals and if they miss doing them before any game, in their minds, they would already be regretting that. Now if they were to have a bad game on a night where they skipped over their rituals, that would not only eat at them internally but also solidify their belief that their pre-game routine has to be done at all costs for them to mentally and physically be locked in.
For some athletes, it may be as simple as sticking to the same pregame meal like Davante Adams who swears that he has had a salmon salad with cucumber, shredded cheese, and ranch dressing before every game in his pro career while some may seem rather odd such as Justin Tucker’s ritual of laying out his entire uniform including his underwear on the floor in front of his locker room in an attempt to pay homage to Deion Sanders, his childhood idol. However, apart from players, there are coaches as well who like their rituals, but the Carolina Panthers OL Coach James Campen has a practice that may creep you out if you didn’t know why he does it.
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Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold were visibly confused when they caught James Campen sniffing footballs!
The Offensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers loves football, so much so that he smells the official game ball and has a habit of kissing the laces or the threading on the ball to ensure that all goes well. James Campen’s ritual dates back to his high school days and guess it really did bring him some luck and helped him have good games because 40 years later, he still continues to kiss the balls.
In the latest iteration of the Carolina Panthers behind the team scenes, quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold caught James Campen sniffing a football. They could not hide their laughter, the quarterbacks though accustomed to seeing this on a regular basis still kind of have to process that this is an actual ritual for Campen and which of us knows where some of these footballs have been? Fans across the league had a similar reaction with most of them surprised at the Coach’s ritual!
Carolina Panthers Vs. Cleveland Browns, James Campen better sniff that game ball because Baker’s gonna need all the luck and prayers he can get his hands on.
You got Baker Mayfield, that’s gotta reduce the smell of disappointment to an extent?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
At least Campen does not care about what people may think of his ritual, there are numerous players in the league who have kept their pre-game rituals confidential because they are either afraid of being mocked or starting a large movement where all their fans begin to copy them.
The NFL really needs to have awards for the top social media teams of the 32 organizations because some of them come up with some amazing material.
There is nothing like the smell of new rubber, with all the grip and grooves intact. Cherish that fresh fragrance because you will never get that again once you start playing with the ball!
Baker really left the Browns to join a team with a ball-sniffing coach.
You better have washed it after every use or one of those days that stench of sweat would end up leaving you nauseous and instead of throwing strikes, you’d end up throwing up on the field.
What are your thoughts on James Campen’s insane ritual? Are there some rituals that you follow because you consider them good luck? Let us know more about them!
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Sumedh Joshi
(2235 Articles Published)