
Last week, we had another of Mike Chamernik’s “Question of the Week” series, the response was great, and Mike is back again with his next question.
Question of the Week
by Mike Chamernik
Except for times I went as a cowboy and as a pirate, each Halloween as a kid I dressed as an athlete of some sport. One year I went trick-or-treating as a Packers player and once I went as a Cowboys player (I had full replica unis for each), and then when I was older I dressed as a baseball player, pairing various MLB team jerseys and caps with my youth baseball pants.
In 2011 I went to a party dressed as the “NBA Lockout,” which was occurring at the time. I wore a bunch of NBA merch and used electrical tape to apply black Xs to every logo. Clever.
I went as Raiders’ coach Josh McDaniels last year. I had the headset and visor, I laminated a play sheet (in actuality a fantasy football rankings chart that looked play sheet-ish), and I made a challenge flag with a square of red fabric covering a small balloon filled with gravel I picked up from my yard.
Have you ever done a sports theme for your Halloween costume? Did you DIY parts of it? What are some of the more creative sports Halloween costumes you’ve seen? What are your plans for this year?
Thanks, Mike.
Great question! I was literally going to do a post on that same thing this week, but I’m glad you beat me to it. It’s funny, in all my years dressing up for Halloween, I never once went as a sports figure. Not as a little kid, not as college student, not even as an adult. I have dressed up in Uni Watch baseball gear for curling(!), but never for Halloween. But I bet a lot of readers have. And hopefully they’ll share pics if they have ’em!
Can’t wait to hear the readers’ responses! OK guys…fire away!
Because I work for a collegiate athletic department, I usually try to wear a costume that has something to do with sports. My fallback option is wearing a Bugs Bunny jersey from the original Space Jam, but I’ve also worn a basketball jersey from my high school. This year my wife wanted to dress up our one year old daughter as Taylor Swift, so I bought a Travis Kelce jersey to wear.
I did a thrifted version of a professional wrestler one year. Complete with a championship belt made from a second hand silver serving platter bolted to a weight lifting belt.
I’ve only dressed up for Halloween twice in my adult life. Both times it was to appease my wife who had friends throwing an event and both times I scrounged up a sports ‘costume. The first time was probably 30 years ago and I wore my Orioles road game-worn Tim Stoddard jersey and softball pants. A cap, bat and stirrups completed the ‘look’.
About a decade ago we were invited to another party and I wore a NY Rangers sweater, blue shorts, and I added one of my sons’ old skateboarding helmets. I ‘accessorized’ with my now 60-year-old Victoriaville hockey stick and some fake stitches on my face.
This year I’m gonna do what I did last year. Walk with my granddaughter, the world’s most adorable 3-year-old witch, as she does a block or two of trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. It’s what I hope to do for years to come.
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Early ‘80s ChrisH DIYed a Phila. Flyers get-up…with a bit of makeup help from my sister. Used my brother’s Tom Bladon jersey, a black pair of gym shorts, my Mylec helmet/leg guards and stick and some beige winter gloves.
When my kids were of trick/treating age I’d take them out wearing my Phila. Phantoms purple road sweater – until I was 30 ; )
Here’s a pic of me as a Broad Street Bully (hat – tip to Phil for hosting!):
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In 2008 I went as Michael Phelps. Bath robe, compression shorts, some medals, swim cap, goggles, and flip flops. This was after attending the Phillies WS championship parade (but not in costume) which was the same day. I most certainly spent a good period of time that night in said costume, wandering around the city trying to find my way from the bar back to a friend’s apartment. To be 26 again.
I went in my football uniform 2 or 3 times as a kid.
I was a Pittsburgh Pirate in ’90 or ’91. My costume consisted of a 70s pillbox cap, my little league pants, and a promotional t-shirt resembling the Pirates’ then-pullover uniform top, probably sporting a local supermarket logo, upon the back of which I’d crudely drawn “Van Slyke” and “18” in black marker. I wasn’t a stickler for accuracy…
In 3rd grade my mom used puff paint to scribble “Joyner” and the number 21 on my replica Angels jersey. I wore it to school, and another kids mom had cut out fabric and made his Wally Joyner jersey look way more realistic, and I was completely embarrassed.
As a young teenager I went as a hockey player most years so that I could wear my rollerblades and cover more ground.
Early ’70s, I had a white jumpsuit with some sponsor patches and a racing helmet as Al Unser Jr. one year. The next year, the jumpsuit was modified with some star spangled trim and became and Evel Knievel costume.
I LOVE this!
I never did sports costumes as a kid, but as a grown-up my two go-to costumes are Jedi or 1960 Washington Senators player. Nothing truly DIY about the Senators costume, but every piece was sourced separately. Jersey off eBay from an unlicensed maker; baseball pants with matching pinstripes from a used sporting-goods store; stirrups from the Uni Watch community; hat from Mickey’s Place on my 2001 trip to Cooperstown to see Kirby Puckett’s induction; undershirt from Ebbet’s Field Flannels; period-appropriate glove and bat traded for with acquaintances in the Vintage Base Ball community; belt and cleats my own old athletic equipment from my playing days. I’ve worn the Senators uniform to work in downtown DC and curling at a Halloween-themed bonspiel. The hat is not quite right; it has the correctly shaped red W, but it has a white outline. I’ve met one person who recognized the mismatch between the jersey script – correct for 1959 & 1960 – and the cap – correct for 1961 & 61. The cap was mislabeled at the shop, and smart phones didn’t exist yet to be able to google details like that irl, so I didn’t spot the mistake until I was back home from the trip.
Oh! Speaking of curling, I one time curled as a substitute in a league that did theme nights, and the theme the night I subbed was 1908s, so I tracked down a white “Hot Rod” shirt and wore a red kilt and curled in a makeshift Rowdy Roddy Piper costume. Sort of an athlete, sort of a uniform?
I bet a lot of people are going as the Olympic Australian Rapper this year.
Or the Turkish sharpshooter.
I saw a french pole vaulter on facebook.
At our local flea market there is a guy who sells knockoff fictional jerseys, so I am wearing my Polk High #33 this year.
I was “the Pittsburgh Pirate”. Pirates yellow jersey + foam finger in the shape of a hook, with a typical pirate hat and black beard. Oh and an eye patch of course!
I went as Kenny Powers a few years ago. Mullet wig, fake goatee with a cheap knockoff
Atlanta hat and jersey, plus the reminder of the baseball gear I had laying around the house.
One year at work, they had us dress up for Halloween so I decided to go a Hanson Brother from “Slap Shot.”
I bought a blank jersey and drew the logo, stripes and numbers with markers. Add fake blood (which I went a little overboard with), glasses and a rented wig…voila!
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I did it once, and quickly regretted it the idea an hour later.
I was working in restaurant as a server when I had the bright idea to clean, then wear my full hockey pads and uniform as my Halloween costume. And wear it for a 12 hour shift.
To say I was regretting it would be an understatement, as I was sweaty for long periods of the shift. Also, to had to my discomfort, the Velcro straps on my shin guards became misaligned where the “fuzzy side” was rubbing on my skin for hours.
I did not do that again.
I dressed in sports-themed gear for my fourth- through sixth-grade years in the ’70s. The first year (1976) I used my brother’s outgrown play football outfit, after painting his white helmet into Raiders colors. I spray-painted the helmet silver (which did not adhere well) and painted the black shields and middle stripe before my mom did a bang-up job of painting the details. The jersey was red with the number 100 on it, so it looked a little odd with a silver and black helmet, although I could’ve said that I was Ken Stabler in a practice jersey.
For my fifth-grade costume in 1977, I went as a Royals player. I loved their light blue road jerseys, but the real things were cost prohibitive (so were the replicas), so we made our own with a light blue T-shirt with white screen-pressed letters arched in KANSAS CITY on the front and the number 17 (in black; the store didn’t have any white numbers) for Mark Littell. I wore my AJD Super Stripes Royals cap with my shirt and carried my glove.
We moved prior to my sixth-grade year, and my new town had a middle school and no costumes for Halloween. A friend of mine lived in the country but still wanted to go trick-or-treating, as did I, one last time. So I took my red windbreaker, slapped some tape on it and wrote “Kansas Football” on the tape and wore my Jayhawks AJD Lucky Stripes cap to complete the look of a coach. Our high school’s head football coach lived on the next block from us, and he complimented me on my outfit when we visited his house.
One footnote: I finally got a replica light blue Royals jersey when I was 18, in 1985, and during their championship run that fall (and for the following week or so, which included Halloween) I was wearing and washing it three or four times a week. Good times!
Never actually went as an athlete but was in Spirit yesterday and I saw a referee costume and it dawned on me. I don’t have to spend any money because I can just wear my ref gear!
FYI I am actually an officially licensed IHSAA (Indiana) ref just completed the football season.
I wore a ton of half-hearted sports costumes as a kid, but two as an adult. In 2007 I went to a dance party as the Green Monster. It was Saturday evening and the Red Sox and Rockies were playing Game 3 of the World Series. I wore the correct green sweatshirt and sweatpants, posted ads appropriate to the year for the wall, and on my chest was the Fenway scoreboard, where I updated the score of that night’s game (though it was at Coors Field) as it progressed. Another year I went to a party as Ali G, and I wore a Lakers track suit, with plenty of bling.
In all honesty, I think my love for Halloween costumes goes all the way back to my childhood. Growing up, I played every sport under the sun, and one year, I decided I wanted to dress up in a football uniform for Halloween. I remember proudly telling my dad, fully expecting him to cheer me on. But he just laughed and shook his head, saying, “Dude, you already play football! Go be a monster or a ghoul, or something else! Be creative—just have fun with it.” His words struck a chord, and that Halloween, with the help of my mom and sisters, I ditched the sports gear and took a totally unexpected turn. Together, we went all out, transforming me into a perfectly bizarre Oompa Loompa. The bright orange skin, the wild green wig, and the funky striped socks got such a huge reaction that I actually won first place in my school costume contest that year.
Since then, it’s been a family tradition to brainstorm the wildest, most creative costumes possible. Every year, my mom, sisters, and I have pushed the limits, coming up with ideas that keep friends and family guessing for our annual Halloween Party. Last year, though, I did break my “no-sports” rule and went as “The Macho Man.” I dove into the character with full flamboyance, from the bold sunglasses to the wild fringe on the sleeves. I even managed to stump my sisters with my swaggering take on the wrestler as I even grew a beard and practiced his clever lines and how he even spoke, so I’d say it was a win—even if technically, wrestling is a sport but boy did I still have fun!