Four Ghost Stories with NFL Connections
Football season is here! And Spooky Season isn’t far off…
Greetings, Traveler! We’re at the beginning of August, which means the National Football League is about to kick off training camp on the road to the 58th Super Bowl in league history. The NFL generates around 19 billion a year, according to Sportico, and just about every team has something to be excited about.
Even my Carolina Panthers, of all teams, have given me a reason to be excited!
The only thing I like more than football on a Sunday is giving a ghost tour the night before, so I asked myself if there are any ghost stories related to the NFL. And after some digging, I found a few of the spookiest stories around the league.
So, in honor of Super Bowl LVIII, here are four spooky stories with ties to the National Football League.
Former NFL Head Coach Lives in a Haunted House
Jim L. Mora, often erroneously referred to as Jim Mora Jr., is the son of former head coach Jim E. Mora. As I’ll refer to him by this nickname, Big E had a long coaching career, notable for being Peyton Manning’s first NFL head coach and being the coach with the notorious playoffs rant during a post-game press conference.
Little L is most remembered as the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and as Michael Vick’s third NFL head coach. His most outstanding achievement was leading the Falcons to the NFC championship game in 2004 after a blowout of the then St. Louis Rams, 47–17. The Dirty Birds lost the following week to the Dirtier Bird, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles would go on to appear in their second Super Bowl and fall to Tom Brady’s Patriots.
Mora bounced around the college ranks after being fired in 2006. Most recently, he landed with the UConn Huskies as their football coach.
This is where our spooky story begins, Traveler.
In 2022, the younger Mora reported to ESPN Gameday that his house is haunted. Though he’s never encountered an apparition in the house, Jim claims that doors open on their own and that he hears odd noises and sometimes sees shadows.
The University of Connecticut is speculated to be haunted in itself. So much so that the school newspaper uses the term “undeniably haunted” in an article regarding ghosts on campus. This isn’t any surprise to me, Traveler. To me, Connecticut might be the most haunted state in the U.S.
I’ve certainly been there enough times to document this myself.
Big Time Hank Sees a Ghost…Hunter
Johnathan Hankins is a defensive tackle out of Ohio State who plays for the Dallas Cowboys. The man who goes by the moniker Big Time Hank also runs a YouTube channel where he talks about the league, his career, and his personal life.
Mostly, he interviews folks from all walks of life while on camera, and that’s what brings us to his channel today, Traveler.
Media producer, professional ghost hunter, and ghost adventurer Jay Wasley recently let Hank’s channel into his home for a sit-down interview. Credit to Johnathan Hankins; this in-depth, soup-to-nuts interview was entertaining and informative from beginning to end. He really has a knack for it.
As for Jay, he has to be my favorite of the Ghost Adventures…club (I’ll say it that way forever, I swear). One, he’s my local guy from Philly, something he mentions in the interview. Two, we also learn from that interview that Jay signed on as a sound guy when there was a crew call for the pilot episode of Ghost Adventures. He hopped on a plane to Vegas, rented a car, and drove up to Goldfield, and the rest is history.
Of the club, Jay seems to be the most personable and willing to put himself out there, but that’s just my personal opinion.
This was an excellent introductory video for new ghost hunters. Jay covers a lot of stuff in layman’s terms, to the point where Hankins remarks, about 14 minutes in, that he would like to take on a serious ghost hunt at some point. Let me put it out there now: if you read this Big Time Hank, the Cowboys play the Eagles twice a year. If you’re in town, I’m happy to take a group to Fort Mifflin or Eastern State if we can get in. If not, I give the best ghost tour in Society Hill.
But before we move on to our next tale, let’s have a bit of synchronicity.
While researching this article, I came across a headline that I just had to click. Our boy Jay had an encounter in the desert not more than four days before I drafted this article, Traveler.
He caught himself a ghost by pure accident. You can see the photo on TMZ here.
As I’ve written before, Traveler: Synchronicity exists.
Jimmy Hoffa is still a fan
Jimmy Hoffa was the International Brotherhood of Teamsters president between 1957 and 1971. His run ended while in prison after being convicted of bribery and fraud in 1967. Before this, he was found guilty of jury tampering in Tennessee in 1964.
President Richard Nixon pardoned Hoffa in 1971, and the Teamster’s union paid him a 1.75 million dollar settlement.
Most famously, however, Hoffa disappeared in 1975 without a trace. He has never been found. In 1982, Hoffa was declared presumed dead.
His disappearance and death are speculated to come at the hands of the organized crime, thanks to the publishing and popularization of the book I Heard You Paint Houses, a title that comes from a code term allegedly used by Hoffa himself to call on the mafia to eliminate enemies of the Teamsters.
Going back to the year 1957, something else happened of note. Hoffa’s favorite team, the Detroit Lions, won their last NFL Championship. This happened despite star quarterback Bobby Layne breaking his leg in three places in the season’s second-to-last game. The following year, 1958, Layne was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Layne was so upset he famously said that the Lions wouldn’t win another championship for 50 years.
But what does that have to do with Jimmy Hoffa?
Although his body has never been found, it’s believed that Jimmy Hoffa haunts Ford Field, according to Sports Planning Guide. Hoffa can allegedly be overheard cheering on the Lions on game days by fans and stadium crew.
But what if it goes farther, Traveler? What if Hoffa was cursed to cheer on those awful Lions teams for 50 years as his own punishment in the afterlife? What if he’s punished by the dark forces summoned by Bobby Layne?
Darnold Sees Ghosts…Again
Finally, Traveler, I leave you with one of my former Panther quarterbacks, Sam Darnold.
Darnold was taken out of the University of Southern California with the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. Despite a great college career, he was named to the All-American team as a freshman and won the Archie Griffin award (kind of like an MVP award); his NFL career has been anything but smooth. He started as a rookie with the Jets. Darnold injured his foot several times throughout the season, and the interceptions piled up. That offseason, he contracted mononucleosis, of all things. He came back for his week 6 start against the Cowboys, but he played the New England Patriots during Monday Night Football the following week.
Darnold was blitzed so many times by New England coach Bill Belichick that he threw four interceptions and lost a fumble. The pass rush got to him, and a hot ESPN mic (he was mic’d up for the game) caught him telling his coaches that he was “seeing ghosts,” likely stemming from being unable to focus due to the defensive onslaught.
Darnold would be traded after his third year to my Carolina Panthers, where he would play under coach Matt Rhule (what a bum) before leaving in free agency and signing with the San Fransisco 49ers this past offseason. Rhule was fired during Sam’s last season, and he finished his Panther career with Steve Wilks as head coach. Wilks is now the defensive coordinator for the same 49ers.
Little did he know he would see ghosts again on his way to the Bay Area. Only this time, they were of the literal sort.
George Kittle is a three-time all-pro tight end for the 49ers and Darnold’s new teammate. In an interview with Big Cat from Barstool Sports and the podcast Pardon My Take, Darnold mentioned that he had to uproot and move across the country from North Carolina to California; Darnold stopped in Tennessee to stay in the pool house that belonged to Kittle.
While a guest on Kittle’s property, strange events plagued the new 49er quarterback.
Darnold told the podcast that he suffered from sleep paralysis for the first time in his life when he woke up at, of course, 3 a.m. The following night, after using the bathroom, when Sam returned to his bedroom, he experienced a feeling of being watched.
He speculated that it had something to do with Civil War spirits.
Whatever the case, good luck in the bay, Sammy. Thank you for putting up with Rhule for two years.
And there you have it, Traveler. Sports and the paranormal have an intertwined relationship, which I plan to touch on in the coming months. But in the meantime, as always,
Safe Travels, Traveler.
And Go Cats!
Reverend Vic
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