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J.J. McCarthy Meditates to ‘Frequency of God’ to Clear His Head Before Games

The Michigan Wolverines quarterback has an interesting pregame ritual, to say the least.
Kristen Wong|
J.J. McCarthy Meditates to ‘Frequency of God’ to Clear His Head Before Games
J.J. McCarthy Meditates to ‘Frequency of God’ to Clear His Head Before Games

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Michigan Wolverines

Every athlete’s mental process of preparing for games is different. For Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy, he’s developed a carefully cultivated pregame ritual that involves breathing exercises and… meditating to the frequency of God.

McCarthy recently revealed to The Athletic that he uses meditation as a way to clear his head before games. Part of his ritual involves putting on a pair of headphones and listening to sounds tuned to 963 hertz, also known as the “frequency of God.”

McCarthy, who has reportedly been meditating since high school, described the relaxing sounds as similar to “white noise” and that “it does some things I can’t even really describe.”

Hours before McCarthy and the No. 1 ranked Wolverines would take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl on Monday night, the Michigan quarterback was spotted shoeless and sitting cross-legged in one end zone practicing his meditation.

It was certainly a sight to behold.

“I felt like last year I got caught up in the noise and all the emotions of it,” McCarthy told The Athletic. “I’m just trying to stay simple... (We’re) always focusing on the task ahead of us. If you focus on the one that’s two steps ahead or all the outside noise, then you’re not focused on what’s right in front of you.”

McCarthy is 25—1 as Michigan's starter and has thrown for 2,630 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. 

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.

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