When the Wisconsin Badgers host Northwestern on Sept. 28 at Camp Randall Stadium, both football teams will turn the clock wayyyy back. Like to a time before helmets.
Nothin’ but ❄️❄️❄️#CFB150 || #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/e4G565A6ZF
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 14, 2019
Celebrating 150 years of college football, Wisconsin’s threads are an homage to the simplistic uniforms the school wore back in the 1880s and ’90s. There’s a white “UW” on a red jersey, and the same thing in red on a white helmet. (Thankfully, they will not forgo safety for historical accuracy.) It’s actually not that far off from the team’s usual home jerseys — save for the brown pants. The brown pants are what really stands out here.
When I first saw the unveiling, I thought of this:
Yes, Bobby Boucher eventually led the SCLSU Mud Dogs to a championship in The Waterboy, but that team spends much of the season as a hapless mess. They could not win a single game without the help of a deranged, H2O-loving man child. Is that really the message UW wants to send to N’western? (NU’s throwbacks, btw, are just plain boring. At least UW’s pants are a conversation starter.)Regardless, the team seems pretty into them:
But do the fans agree? Let’s check in with the internet:Today. Noon. 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZtYrtWMq2g
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 13, 2019
Badgers going for that “I’m Jake, from State Farm” look pic.twitter.com/2jJ7MAl3M4
— Jeremy Dunnihoo (@CoachHoo) August 13, 2019
You might as well write Badgers in comic sans
— Andrew H. (@heisheisbaby) August 14, 2019
If you’re going to include khakis in your football uniform, you have to be prepared for a little ribbing. Honestly, the uniforms aren’t really that bad. The pants are a little weird, but that’s just indicative of the era — Packers throwbacks have also used brown to simulate old-timey earth tones. Hopefully they don’t prove as unlucky as the white-sleeved Badgers jersey that lasted all of one blowout loss to Colorado in 1995.fReSh LoOk
— Scary Alvarez (@barryisthedon) August 13, 2019
And at the very least, look on the bright side:
These jerseys are real bad, but thank god they’re not “Michigan State alternates” bad pic.twitter.com/R82VqlxjYn
— Brandon Nedoma (@N3DOMA) August 13, 2019
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