Think Panthers fans are a superstitious bunch?

Check out the team.

"Players are very superstitious by nature," says Jackie Miles the Panthers' equipment manager, who is privy to many of the team's idiosyncrasies. "So are most of your coaches."

Miles didn't reveal too many secrets. Game-day rituals are like birthday wishes to some players. Talk about them, and they might not come true.

Plus, Miles said, "they're kind of embarrassed. They don't want to admit it's a superstition."

But every Sunday, he has players who won't allow anyone else to tape them up or put on their pads. Running back Stephen Davis, wide receiver Steve Smith and linebacker Dan Morgan are among his regulars.

They'll wait for him even when his assistants are free. And Miles isn't flattered enough to think it's just his taping skills that have them standing in his line. He's their regular good-luck charm.

Past players had superstitions, too, Miles said. Linebacker Kevin Greene was always the first guy in the locker room on game day and wanted his pads taped just so. Tight end Wesley Walls would only wear black cleats.

Walls, in fact, had a long list of rituals that he shared before the 2000 Pro Bowl: Spend 15 minutes after every practice catching balls from a machine. Hit the weight room for an hour. Drive the same route home every night. Park on the same side of the garage.

Former coach George Seifert had a similarly long list, Miles said. (Not that it helped during the 2001 season. The Panthers ended 1-15 and Seifert was fired.)

Miles kept his former boss' secrets, but some of his former players spilled: Seifert wouldn't walk over the Panther painted in the middle of the field at Ericsson Stadium. He would blow on a Life Saver and eat it before games. And he always wanted to be the last one to leave the locker room.

Coach John Fox isn't a superstitious guy, though, Miles said. "He's pretty straightforward."

Miles respects superstition as a powerful force in the NFL, but he's willing to break it when needed.

As equipment manager, he picks which jerseys the team wears. When Carolina went on the road to Tampa Bay earlier this season, the home team was wearing white. Miles chose the new blue jerseys, rather than black, even though the Buccaneers had beaten the Panthers the only other time they had worn blue.

Why tempt fate? Because 100-degree temperatures were expected in Tampa, and the blue jerseys are cooler than black.

"I was scared to death wearing them against Tampa again," Miles said. "But we fought superstition on that one and won."

Then the team wore blue against the Tennessee Titans last week -- and lost. Guess they shouldn't make a ritual out of it.