The Dancin’ Ducks: University of Oregon Reveals Grateful Dead Inspired Uniforms
The University of Oregon’s football team is flexing their connection to the Grateful Dead, and revealing the uniforms that were designed for their upcoming game against the University of Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, October 25, which has been deemed a “tie-dye out” for fans and players alike. Previously the athletic department announced its intent to commemorate Eugene, Ore. and the university’s connection to the San Francisco jamband, who performed at Autzen Stadium 10 times between 1974 and 1994.
The uniform reflects a play on motifs that integrates the Grateful Dead and Oregon Ducks iconography. Included, the dancing ducks [a play on the dancing bears] which adorn the back of the team’s helmets as well as the jersey collar, the band’s steal your face logo has been applied to a duck and includes their trademark 13-point lightning bolt skull mimicking the Nike swoosh and fixed to each shoulder of the players jerseys.
On the back of each jersey, the players’ numbers have been cast in tie dye, a classic arrangement of yellow and green tones, that co-opt the team’s traditional colorways and harken back to an illustrious history that began with Ken Kesey’s region return and the band’s subsequent 1968 arrival and first Eugene date, which occurred in ‘68 at the college’s EMU Ballroom.
Notably, Dead archivist and legacy member has called the university town, the band’s “home away from home,” which endured in ‘72 when the group returned and offered their songs in support of the Springfield Creamery, makers of Nancy’s Yogurt, a move that effectively saved the business.
“As it’s the Oregon tradition to be untraditional, this is just the latest example of the relationship between Nike and Oregon represented in a football uniform accompanied by both player and fan off-field apparel,” UO football equipment administrator Kenny Farr stated. “We are gratef–pun very much intended–for the opportunity to participate in this collaboration.”
Previously, the Grateful Dead unveiled a shoe collaboration in celebration of the band’s Autzen history. Read the article now and view the product.
Scroll down for a first look at the Oregon Ducks’ Grateful Dead inspired uniforms.
