After mixed reviews on the Nike Pro Combat uniforms for Georgia, Boise State and Oregon, Nike has unleashed the combat uniforms for Michigan State, LSU, Ohio State, Stanford, Navy and Army that will be worn this fall.
Once again, we are split on the results.
Michigan State’s uniforms are flat-out ridiculous. It features a gold, er, bronze helmet with hunter green jerseys and black pants. Going for the Spartan warrior look, we think Nike swung and missed on this one.
Oh, and there’s this: “Echoing the cry of King Leonidas, the back of the collar is inscribed with the words ‘Molon Labe,’ the Spartans’ defiant challenge to the competition to ‘come and get them!’”
Right.
We give these a D-.
MSU’s Big 10 brethren Ohio State got some duds as well, featuring scarlet jerseys with ugly numbering and grey on the shoulders with a grey helmet featuring a massive scarlet stripe and numbering on the side. [UPDATE: The helmets are similar to what the Buckeyes wore from 1960-65). These look like Georgia’s recent Pro Combat unis and get a D from us.
For LSU, the look isn’t quite as drastic. It features an all-white uniform and a white helmet instead of the traditional yellow lid. But LSU has worn the white helmet before, so there’s really nothing to see here. While Nike gets credit for not destroying LSU’s traditional look, there’s also nothing new about these combat unis and helmet except an enlarged logo.
We give these a B-, with bonus points for the gloves.
As for Stanford? Well that’s one Combat uni that Nike did right.
The Swoosh gave the Cardinal an all-black helmet with a red “S” and cherry colored uniforms with black lettering. These deserve an A+.
And finally, there’s the service academies. Navy ditched their gold helmet for a white lid with an anchor on it, which harkens back to its look from 1961. These get a solid A from us, missing out on an A+ only because of the amateurish number font. We hope to see these helmets again in the future.
Lastly, there’s Army. We’re still trying to figure out what’s different about these uniforms from its normal gear, aside from the military stripping on the arms. These get an incomplete because they don’t even look finished.
What’s your take?
