Halloween Memories

If Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers repeats his favorite Halloween performance, you'll find no large blackbirds hanging around his house this Oct. 31--and not many kids, either. "One year I dressed up as a scarecrow," says Rivers . "I was stuffed; I had on big pants, panty hose over my face and a hat. Sitting on my front porch, I looked like a regular scarecrow. When kids came for candy, I would say, "'Take one.' I scared a lot of them." ... More terrified were the trick-or-treaters who visited 76ers guard Willie Green 's house last year. "I dressed up like Michael Myers [from the Halloween movies]. I had the [foreboding] music in the background. It was dark at the back of the house, so from the front door you couldn't see anything, but you could hear the music. As my brothers passed out candy, I would come out, slowly walking toward the door. Kids were jumping off my porch, just running." ... Of course scariness is in the eye of the beholder. "My son Kaylen had a Mickey Mouse costume," says Flyers defenseman Denis Gauthier . "But every time he'd walk in front of a mirror, he cried. Mickey scared him. He was two." ... Some, of course, are old enough to know better. "When I was 24, my brother and I wore Bert and Ernie costumes to a Halloween party. I was Ernie," says Steelers special teams co-captain Sean Morey, 30. "Afterward, I went to meet my friend at a pancake house, still in my Ernie costume. I started grabbing him and pinching him. He didn't know who it was. He turned around and socked me in the chin. It almost knocked me out. I learned my lesson: Don't dress up as Ernie and approach anyone." ... "Remember how Siegfried and Roy had the tiger accident?" says Stars left wing Steve Ott . "[Then teammate] Bill Guerin came [to a party] as Roy, with a stuffed animal tied to his neck and little markings here and there. Everyone was like, 'Good costume. Funny.' About an hour later, [defenseman] Richard Matvichuk came in as Roy also. He had gotten professional makeup, and he had a Siberian, a [real] baby white tiger on a leash. Billy just looked at his little stuffed animal and knew a good idea had gone bad in a heartbeat." ... "I went to a party with a friend of mine who is five-foot-four," says the Halloweenishly named 6'7" Wild winger Derek Boogaard . "I dressed as Dr. Evil, and he dressed as Mini-Me." ... As kids, some athletes took a minimalist approach, like the now 6'7", 336-pound Chargers tackle Marcus McNeill who says, "I went as a big black guy" ... Sonics sharpshooter Ray Allen (above, with horns) embraced the demonic spirit of the holiday. "I was the devil one year," he says. "I had a little plastic mask with rubber bands and a staple. The staple came out, and at each house I had to put the mask to my face when they opened the door. They'd ask, 'Who are you?' And I'd say, 'I'm the devil! Trick or treat.'"... "My mother, Ellen, sewed my costume every year," says Trail Blazers forward Raef LaFrentz (right). "I'd be Aquaman, Batman or The Incredible Hulk--she'd make a nice costume with big muscles. I could never be Superman because one of my friends always was. It pissed me off. I wasn't going to be the second Superman." ... Vikings receiver Marcus Robinson (far left, with giant egg) says, "I hung out with a rough crowd. We used to egg people, egg cars." To make sure they had enough ammo distributed around the neighborhood, "a week before, we would dig three-foot holes in different spots, then set eggs in them." ... Others recall being on the receiving end of the pranks. "I come from a Christian household and we didn't celebrate Halloween," says Clippers center Chris Kaman . "At church we had something called the Hallelujah Hoedown. It was like Halloween for the good kids. We'd go home afterward, close the windows and turn out the lights. We'd get our house egged every year because we didn't give out candy." ... Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer (left) can say amen to that. "Those houses where people aren't home and they leave out a bucket of candy--we would attack those buckets, fill our bags," he recalls. "One house set us up. We filled our bags, and as we were walking out the kids who lived there were sitting on top of the house with paintball guns and pelted us."