There's something new about the Oregon Ducks football team,
and it won't show up on any stat sheet. We're not talking
about the recovery of star running back Reuben Droughns, the
promotion of starting quarterback A.J. Feeley, who fills the
big shoes of top NFL draft pick Akili Smith, or the chance
to build on last year's 8-3 season. The hottest thing about
the University of Oregon's football players is what they're
wearing. On Sept. 2 at the season opener in Michigan, new
uniforms were unveiled.
Some Duck fans did question the logic of a uniform change
when the team has been on a good run--eight bowl games in
the last decade (including Rose and Cotton bowl appearances)
and several NFL first-round draft picks. But Oregon head
coach Mike Bellotti claimed that a flashy new look would
mean added ammunition in the cutthroat realm of college
recruiting. "You should see how much time players spend
in front of the mirror before every game," says Bellotti.
"For them, it's showtime."
Bellotti first approached Nike three years ago--a natural
choice since the Beaverton-based company was born out of
the University of Oregon's legendary track program in the
mid-'70s and has remained a major supporter of the Ducks.
Even more significantly, Nike masterminded a successful
redesign for the 1997 Denver Broncos. The Broncs have won
a Super Bowl every year they've worn the new look.
A team of about two dozen Nike designers began the makeover
by meeting with university president Dave Frohnmayer. "The
question was what this university wanted to represent to
the world," says designer Todd Van Horne, who as the leader
of the Nike team looks young enough to be in college himself.
The university and Nike settled on this goal: to create
a modern costume that embodies the trail-blazing spirit
of the state.
Van Horne, a native of the Denver area, had seen what a
drastic uniform change could do. His grandfather, a rabid
Broncos fan, was so distressed by the new Denver suits two
years ago that he called Van Horne at Nike to complain.
But by year's end, after Denver had won its first world
championship, Grandpa decided the new look was OK.
When the first pictures of the new Duck look came back
from Hawaii on the eve of last year's Aloha Bowl, it was
clear that this was more than just a refined kit: It was
a complete transformation. As star players Droughns and
Peter Sirmon modeled the new duds on the sands of Waikiki
Beach, they didn't look like your average college football
players--they looked like superheroes.
So how did the Ducks go from Disney to DC Comics? The first
hurdle was the mascot itself: Could a duck look tough? Instead
of trying to make the fowl look ferocious, Nike emphasized
"Oregon" rather than "Ducks." Then there was that cheerful
Leprechaun green. Sports Psychology 101 tells us that players
feel tougher, stronger and faster in darker colors--enter
"mallard green," a more menacing shade that better reflected
the rage of a charging linebacker. Next came the helmet
challenge. Van Horne and the Nike team found that a mallard's
headdress of feathers refracts light as it flies through
the air; they endeavored to make the helmets do the same
trick. With a little help from DuPont to make the right
paint (the refracting feature had not been used on plastic
before), they succeeded in creating a futuristic, hypercolor
helmet never seen before. The new logo is a futuristic-looking
single "O" replacing the traditional interlocking "UO" that
the team has used for decades. The shape of the O represents
Oregon's former and present playing fields: The shape inside
the letter mimics a track, i.e., Hayward Field; the letter's
boxy perimeter is modeled after Autzen Stadium.
The new uniforms don't just look good. Nike also made significant
changes in uniform infrastructure. Historically, players
have taped, tucked and cut their jerseys so they can't be
grabbed, but this compromises range of motion. Nike used
a combination of Lycra and Cordura fabric (previously used
only for backpacks) that, for the first time, allowed both
a tug-free fit and freedom of movement.
The response? "They were so fired up, so excited. There's
no question they liked the uniforms," confirms Bellotti.
And just as importantly, the recruiting tool Bellotti sought
has already paid dividends. "I know from talking to coaches
[at other schools] that the new uniforms are the talk of
national recruiting," he says.
If the crowd of 40,938 that filled Autzen Stadium for the
Ducks' Sept. 11 home opener was any indication, the uniforms
are mostly a hit with alumni and fans. Some in the crowd
voiced displeasure: One longtime season-ticket holder called
them "the Ugly Ducklings," while others complained that
the darker shade of green blended into the turf. But according
to sales staff at the Duck Shop just outside the stadium,
merchandise with the new design was outselling the old stuff
by a wide margin. And regardless of fan perception, Bellotti
knows that on-field performance is still the lens by which
everything is examined. "If we win," says Bellotti, "everybody
will say the uniforms are dandy."
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Willamette Week | originally
published September 29,
1999
|
