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2012 NCAA Football Uniform Tracker


Clint

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It’s almost that time again. The time where the countdowns are almost at 0:00 is here. The time where the campers begin to get prepped for the trips. The grills are being assembled, the food is being bought. The parking spots are being reserved for the home gamedays. Bookstores are beginning to prepare for the massive crowds that always trample through their stores.

As the players and coaches and staff have been preparing for the games their individual ways, the heads of athletic departments, and equipment departments, have been busy getting the iconic gameday sportswear ready. New jerseys are ordered. Pants are refurbished, and helmets are sent off to get refinished. Manufacturers send multiple concepts and prototypes to schools, hoping that the people in charge like what they see. Well, us Auburn fans know of UnderArmour’s constant trying to get Jay Jacobs and his men to try something, anything, different from the traditional blue, orange, and white striped uniforms. Thankfully (as far as we know), the men in charge of our beloved uniforms have not changed them (too much). But, the same cannot be said of other schools, around the SEC and the country. So let’s go through a quick rundown of all the SEC uniforms, as well as many of the other uniform changes from around the country.

(Late changes and/or additions will be noted with an asterisk [*] )

SEC-

In 2012, we welcome in two new teams into the SEC. Both of these teams, Missouri and Texas A&M, have unveiled new uniforms. Besides the new uniform sets unveiled, all SEC teams will be wearing the circular SEC logo, rather than the pennant SEC logo worn in the past (although it does seem as though the helmets will have the pennant logo…). That will more than likely be the biggest change to most of these uniforms.

1. Alabama- I don’t know why I put them on this list…had to I guess…anyways, don’t see much change in their uniforms anytime soon.

2. Arkansas- Arkansas has had issues with changing uniforms for a few years now. I was pretty glad they decided to change their uniforms…until I saw these. There are just so many mistakes in this. First off, the new white helmet. GOOD idea! Bad execution. The pig just looks odd…The gradient numbers are butt ugly. The shoulders are not the best idea, especially with the ‘lightning bolt’. The pants are just odd, with most Nike pants, as the stripe doesn’t go all the way from hip to knee… And then the black uniform. Oh boy…those are just bad…Not a fan of these…

3. Auburn- We’ve all heard the rumors of names being taken off and everything. The names are still present. The WAR EAGLE is still on the butt. The pants stripes still taper off towards the knee. This is not a design thing, but rather an UnderArmour stitch design thing. The stripes will be back to normal when UnderArmour designs a new stitching design. The good news, the numbers and names are back to normal, versus the small versions last year.

4. Florida- Florida doesn’t change much. Don’t see them doing much. Possibly a ProCombat later in the year.

5. Georgia- Georgia is also a team that rarely changes anything. Don’t see any change from them. Maybe a one-off black jersey, or another ProCombat, one that actually looks good (if there is such a thing)…

6. Kentucky- Kentucky switched to a new uni design last year, with a new white helmet. Don’t expect anything new from them this year. *Well, I was wrong. Kentucky went and mixed and matched as much as they could, coming up with 18 total combinations. Of course, some look much better than others. Some of the black should have been left on the drawing board though…Odd thing, these pictures feature the pennant SEC logo, versus the new circular one, as shown in the lead picture…

7. LSU- Another traditional school that never changes anything. I wouldn’t expect much from them. We may see a ProCombat down the road…*LSU has added the circular SEC logo to the v-neck area, similar to Florida. But the odd thing is that LSU had the pennant logo in the normal right chest area. Florida’s is only in the v-neck area because they have the Nike swoosh and the Florida Gator head patches…

8. Ole Miss- Ole Miss released pictures of their new helmets a while back. They have both a matte grey, and an old Archie Manning-era baby blue helmet that I’ve always wanted them to go back to.

9. Mississippi State- MSU released their new uniforms shortly after Texas A&M. Sadly, adidas made them both very similar. MSU has the shoulder stripe that is actually a ribbon if you look at the undershirt and pants. The ribbon comes from the MSU logo. Nice touch. The helmet has changed from last year, just a bit, a small bit. The outline on the logo has changed to gray (from either black or maroon, I can’t remember). Sure beats the old ones, that’s for sure…

10. Missouri- Missouri was the first SEC team (first overall I believe…) to unveil new uniforms. They had been teasing and showing peaks of these for a long time before they were shown. Nike made Missouri three new tops (yellow with dark grey “tiger stripe” shoulders, dark grey with yellow “tiger stripe” shoulders, and then a white with matte grey shoulders), three new pants (yellow, white, and dark grey), and two new helmets (shiny one with two stripes and the circular tiger head logo, and a matte black one with new tiger head). Not a huge fan of this set, but we’ll have to see how they look on the field. Don’t like the white jersey’s shoulders at all though.

11. South Carolina- South Carolina changed their uniforms last year, so don’t see much need to change again this year. Might see another Wounded Warriors game, and hopefully UnderArmour will make jerseys that are actually legal this time…

12. Tennessee- don’t see much change in their uniforms. Might see a game with orange pants (on the field, not on Dooley), an all orange uni, or maybe even another black jersey game. Who knows…

13. Texas A&M- Texas A&M enters the SEC with a new adidas uniform set, after ditching a not so bad one. The two stripes on the shoulders are throwbacks to their 70’s uniforms. The dual stripes extend down the compression undershirt, as well as the pants. They added a Texas-state patch on the hip. They have also added a nice looking white helmet. The “12th Man” on the undershirt looks like a little much. Won’t look very “uniform” when players don’t wear the undershirt.

14. Vanderbilt- Vanderbilt has ditched their template Nike uniforms for some very basic ones. Basic, but beautiful. I LOVE the all black and all white uniforms. The gold jersey with black shoulders just looks awkward. The new white helmet is beyond gorgeous! That helmet will look wonderful on the field.

In no particular order, here are most of the other changes around the country.

Appalachian State- I usually wouldn’t put an FCS school in this list, but App. State is such a powerhouse in this league, and they have one heck of a throwback! The logo is their old “Yosef” mascot. Not often do you see a mascot logo both on the helmet AND shoulders. I like the whole set, just think the shades of yellow and brown could be better. Also, the Nike “Flywire” shoulders drive me insane…

Northwestern- Northwestern switched from adidas to UnderArmour this year. UnderArmour has been

on their site about how they were researching Northwestern completely- old uniforms, heritage, buildings, campus, etc…This is definitely a unique look. I’m very curious to see what these look like on the field, especially when players decide to not wear those striped compression undershirts. Think it would look better if the purple jersey had white stripes rather than black. Hard to see.

Rutgers- Rutgers has undergone another coaching change. Most of the time, changes in staff equals changes in uniforms. They now have three different uniform sets (all black, all red, and all white) and three extremely shiny helmets (black logo and facemask, red logo and facemask, and red logo with grey facemask). Not a fan of gradient numbers. When up close, the helmet as a design to resemble a Knight’s armor. Cool attention to detail.

Utah State- Utah State not only redesigned their football uniforms, but the complete athletic department outlook! They went in and redid their logos, the football uniforms, and even the basketball uniforms, and who knows what else. The football uniforms are, in my opinion, the best looking unis of the summer! So basic, but so nice. We all saw the oldeye brow” uniforms last year. Gone. Also a new, very nice, blue helmet. I really like these. Hope they keep them for a while. Doesn’t the alternate logo look a lot like Buffalo’s though?

West Virginia- WVU has added a grey alternate to their arsenal. Mono-gray (gray helmet, shirt, and pants) will probably not look too good. Hoping they mix-and-match, the right ways.

Eastern Michigan- Although not the most expected or publicized, Eastern Michigan took the award for quantity, literally. EMU hasn’t released any pictures of the real uniforms, on anyone or a mannequin, but we have been given a TON of pictures of the uni set. Thankfully, someone went ahead and mashed them all together in one shot. This picture was taken long before the official release, by a recruit I think. Too much to wrap my head around at the moment. These are the old ones.

TCU- TCU was one of the first teams to unveil their new uniforms this summer. First off, they added those dreadful off-color shoulders, but somehow, they make it look decent. The new number font is atrocious. The cut-offs look ridiculous. They also updated their helmets. They took off the frog, and made the TCU bigger. I liked the frog though…They also added a very cool frog skin graphic to the helmets.

Notre Dame- Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy…I don’t know what to say…Terrible…Thankfully these will be once, but still, that’s once too many…

Oregon- Nike’s baby. The one team that never wears a uniform twice. Well, of course they’d release new uniforms. They have new yellow, dark green, and white/silver uniforms (The all white ‘Storm Trooper’ look is awesome!). I think these look better than some they’ve used before. The excess feathers on the shoulders look a bit much though…Also, remember the shiny, metallic, mirror-like helmet from the Rose Bowl last year? Well, that style is making a return this year, but in new colors- green and silver (sorry for quality on the silver one. Can’t be very picky when there aren’t a lot of pictures available…) I would expect to see some more official pictures soon.

Central Michigan- The Chippewas of CMU have released a wonderful new set of uniforms. Here are the old ones for reference. I love the all black look, with the matte black helmet. The funky stripe will take some getting used to. A+ to these guys. That’s how you do it (except for the piping…).

Arizona- Rumors are that Arizona is adding an all red helmet, as well as a copper one, to go with the Arizona flag.

Toledo- Toledo has added a matte black helmet. Will definitely look interesting on the field with their uniforms.

Michigan- Back this year, are Michigan’s odd ‘throwback’ alternates. Last year’s weren’t too bad, and they wore them a few times. These, I’m not so sure where the design came from, but adidas is dubbing them the “Cowboys Classic,” based off the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving uniforms, I’m guessing. Thankfully they don’t have the big M on their chest.

UNLV- UNLV has updated their helmets. I like it!! Sure looks better than their old ones. Nicely done.

Florida State mascot- Not uniforms, but still somewhat note-worthy. FSU has released a new mascot, Cimarron, as a more kid-friendly, “cuddly” mascot. Please hold laughter for after this post.

Houston- Houston released a new, updated logo earlier this summer. The UH is now beveled. They also added a new secondary cougar head logo. Not a big fan of either of these. We’ll have to see how they use the cougar head though…

Texas practice uniforms- Texas got new practice uniforms this year. Now, practice unis wouldn’t be that big of a deal anywhere. But, Nike President Phil Knight said that Texas would wear the uniforms in the opening game against Washington. Talks have died down about this topic, but we’ll have to see what happens here.

Nebraska- Nebraska and adidas unveiled uniforms for the game against Wisconsin for this year. adidas took the same direction they did as with Michigan last year. They put a big N on the chest, and moved the number to the upper left chest. I thought last year that this wasn’t legal, but I guess it was. I don’t like that though. Number should be out front, not a letter. I don’t really like the mono-red look. I, personally, was hoping for some black shirts that Nebraska has always been known to award defensive players. The helmet isn’t too bad. Switching from white to black is a big change, even if for one game. I don’t know if its adidas or what, but this red just looks odd. Looks a bit pink…Will definitely be odd looking at these on the field this fall. Being that they are using these for the Wisconsin game, and the Badgers also being aides, I wouldn’t be surprised to see something new from them as well.

Wisconsin-Speaking of the Badgers, they will also be wearing a ‘front lettered’ uniform for this game. Uniform looks just odd, not a fan of the compression shirt, with one stripe?! The helmet is pretty cool. The ‘W’ looks lacking throughout though. Kind of a ‘less is more, more looks less’ look… This could either be a really good looking game, or a really bad one…

New Mexico State- The Aggies from the dessert have new addidas uniforms. For reference, the old ones. These new ones look like PJs…

Bowling Green- Bowling Green has changed their helmet design this year, as well as adding a matte orange (don’t see that much) helmet. Word is they were supposed to be adding a matte white one as well, but we haven’t seen those yet. BGSU has also recently released their new uniform set. The shoulders have wings. *Here is the white helmet, although during practice, so no logos.

Iowa- Iowa will be wearing throwbacks to the 1921-22 teams. Gold helmet to go along with these.

Minnesota- The Golden Gophers released new uniforms early this summer. They went ‘retro,’ throwing back to the 1970s. Great looking maroon and white uniforms. The gold is a little odd. New matte maroon helmet to go with this set.

Southern Miss- The Golden Eagles will be throwing back to the 1970s team. Absolutely wonderful looking uniforms! Can’t wait to see these on the field against my Marshall Thundering Herd!

Army- Army has redesigned their uniforms this year, playing off of their 2011 Nike ProCombat unis. I love the stencil numbers! Would expect the white uni to be the same style.

Marshall- My Marshall Thundering Herd have cleaned up their unis. No longer do the jerseys have mesh fronts and backs. Also there are no more screen printed numbers, thank goodness. Can’t wait to see if they break out the green peas look again this year!

Syracuse- Syracuse will be wearing a new helmet against USC this year. They are using the same company (Hydro Graphics, Inc) that provides helmets for Oregon, Virginia Tech, and more, including the new faux-back leather helmet the Redskins will be wearing this year.

Duke-Duke has added a new matte black helmet and blue helmet. The blue one looks amazing, not so much the matte one…

Virginia Tech- VT will be wearing white camo military appreciation uniforms, with an awesome looking camo helmet. The Hokies have also released new turkey feet helmets. I’m honestly scared to see what they will use these for, and the accompanying uniforms…*The turkey print helmets are to go with an all white uniform.

San Diego State- SDSU has updated their uniforms. Nice, clean look.

Wyoming- WYO is apparently wearing a one-off digital camo uni. Not a good look at all…

Arkansas State- Coach Gus Malzahn has ordered a new design for the black unis being worn by his Wolf Pack this year. Here are the old ones. Would expect the whites to be very similar.

North Carolina- UNC could very well be adding a new white and black helmet, as well as a black uniform. These have not been officially unveiled yet, so we’ll have to wait to see. *The white helmet will be worn sometime this year. New uniforms will have to wait til next year.

Massachusetts- UMass will be entering their first year as an FBS team, and they are apparently wearing BFBS (Black For Black’s Sake [when black isn’t a team’s official color]) uniforms. *Now, weeks after that picture, we get the first true look at the black helmet, as well as the normal home uniform.

Maryland- Oh the Terps, UnderArmour’s baby…These helmets aren’t bad, much better than the ‘Pride of Maryland’ uniforms…*The ‘Pride of Maryland’ helmets still exist, could very well be worn again this year.

Baylor- Baylor has been known to have many different combinations lately. Looks like they will be going BFBS for a game or two this year. Needs a black helmet for the Darth Vader look.

Air Force- The Air Force Academy has released what looks to be their new uniforms. The desert storm grey looks pretty cool. What’s with the growing trend of two-toned shoulders?!

Colorado State- The Rams have changed uniforms this year. From this, to this nice, clean look. The helmet is unchanged.

Illinois- The Fighting Illini have slightly changed their uniforms. They decided to go mono-blue for the team picture, as well as featuring the rumored matte blue “I” helmet.

UTEP- The Miners changed their uniforms last year (the blue and white pictured), and this year decided to add a mono-orange look to the arsenal. Not a huge fan of these. Don’t really like the all-orange socks and shoes…And again, these ugly shoulders!! *Better picture here.

All Big 10 teams will be wearing the B1G logo on their jerseys like this, per B1G rules.

Nike ProCombat teams will include Ohio State, LSU, and Florida State, as of now. More details will be available later, like Nike always does.

Aren’t uniforms fun?! There are more than likely going to be more uniforms released during the season, of course the Nike ProCombat and some one-off jerseys a team decides to break out. I’ll stay on top of it all and share it all with you guys!

If you enjoyed this post, and this kind of topic, check out www.uniwatch.com for even more, thorough looks into not just football, but baseball, soccer, basketball, and even non-sports uniforms. It’s a real cool site and I always enjoy reading the daily post.

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Only one player on the Texas A&M roster will have that undershirt that says 12th man on it. That will be the walk-on who represents the 12th man. They included it because it was jersey #12 and #12 is pretty significant in A&Ms history. Everyone else will have the plain 2 stripes on their undershirt.

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Going to have a hard time telling A&M and MSU apart. Liked Northwestern's updated unis, seems like they should be a tribute type uni instead of regulars. I don't like all the teams using grey/black when not part of their normal colors. I also don't like teams having multiple helmets on a regular basis (tribute type games are different). Arkansas needs to stop all the changes, year in and year out their uniforms are ugly, there are plenty of red and white teams they could look at for design guidance. Their razorback logo is actually pretty cool, but somehow they mess those unis up every season.

I love our uniforms.

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Only one player on the Texas A&M roster will have that undershirt that says 12th man on it. That will be the walk-on who represents the 12th man. They included it because it was jersey #12 and #12 is pretty significant in A&Ms history. Everyone else will have the plain 2 stripes on their undershirt.

Did not know that. Thank you for that insight.

Going to have a hard time telling A&M and MSU apart. Liked Northwestern's updated unis, seems like they should be a tribute type uni instead of regulars. I don't like all the teams using grey/black when not part of their normal colors. I also don't like teams having multiple helmets on a regular basis (tribute type games are different). Arkansas needs to stop all the changes, year in and year out their uniforms are ugly, there are plenty of red and white teams they could look at for design guidance. Their razorback logo is actually pretty cool, but somehow they mess those unis up every season.

I love our uniforms.

Great insight. Accourding to Paul Lukas, head of UniWatch.com, recruits, 17-18 year old kids, 'like shiny things.' Therefore, and my interpretation, kids that dont care for or come from a traditional family, and tradition and such doesnt mean much to them, being able to say "I wore that one!" on tv week in and week out, means something to them. So, teams like Oregon, that can wear a completely different uniform combonation every week, is an enticing destination.

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Nebraska and Notre Dame screwed up two of the best looking uniforms in college football......boooo

The only thing Notre Dame had going for them was the uni's......and now they look like an arena league team.

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So it's confirmed our number size will be back to normal?

Yes. Our number sizes are back to normal. Our names are bigger, but with a smaller font. They are not completely back to normal.

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insane post, man... good job.. the UMD helmets do look amazing. But get it right.. The pride of Maryland is in Southern Prince George's County, not North. As in... Full MGM Casino coming to National Harbor babe!!!

#WDE #WDEFromAfar

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Grumpy old man comment: Why don't schools like their school colors anymore? Oregon, your colors are green and yellow, not black, silver, grey, neon anything. Arkansas, you're red and white, not black and white and red all over. It would irritate me if Auburn started randomly adding colors to orange and blue.

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Grumpy old man comment: Why don't schools like their school colors anymore? Oregon, your colors are green and yellow, not black, silver, grey, neon anything. Arkansas, you're red and white, not black and white and red all over. It would irritate me if Auburn started randomly adding colors to orange and blue.

I agree. I got into an argument with someone about Tennessee's official colors. I said they were (creamsicle) orange and white. This person swore that navy blue was one of their colors, citing the fact that it was included in several of their uniforms. It was included, alright -- but not because it was one of their official colors.

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Grumpy old man comment: Why don't schools like their school colors anymore? Oregon, your colors are green and yellow, not black, silver, grey, neon anything. Arkansas, you're red and white, not black and white and red all over. It would irritate me if Auburn started randomly adding colors to orange and blue.

I agree. I got into an argument with someone about Tennessee's official colors. I said they were (creamsicle) orange and white. This person swore that navy blue was one of their colors, citing the fact that it was included in several of their uniforms. It was included, alright -- but not because it was one of their official colors.

This is the phenomenon the uni-world uses as "BFBS," or Black For Black's Sake, meaning that teams will use black as a color even though it isnt a team color. Take the Phily Eagle's black alternate. They wear a black uniform, even though it isnt an "official team color."

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insane post, man... good job.. the UMD helmets do look amazing. But get it right.. The pride of Maryland is in Southern Prince George's County, not North.

#WDE #WDEFromAfar

"Pride of Maryland," the school and UnderArmour's words, not mine...

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I agree. I got into an argument with someone about Tennessee's official colors. I said they were (creamsicle) orange and white. This person swore that navy blue was one of their colors, citing the fact that it was included in several of their uniforms. It was included, alright -- but not because it was one of their official colors.

Actually, baby blue is a highlight color of theirs, and has been for as far back as I can remember. The girls use it a lot, but you can occasionally find it on the football unis in the trim.

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I agree. I got into an argument with someone about Tennessee's official colors. I said they were (creamsicle) orange and white. This person swore that navy blue was one of their colors, citing the fact that it was included in several of their uniforms. It was included, alright -- but not because it was one of their official colors.

Actually, baby blue is a highlight color of theirs, and has been for as far back as I can remember. The girls use it a lot, but you can occasionally find it on the football unis in the trim.

Wow. Repeating the same argument. Yes, I know they use blue on their uniforms. The point is, it's not one of their official colors -- unless you're talking about a satellite campus. So the use of blue (of any hue) in their unis goes against their own branding. Agreeing with the grumpy old man comment -- if you don't like your official colors and want to use something else, then change your official colors.

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I liked the Mizzou unis and the Va Tech helmet is AWESOME.

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Two new items to add to the list today.

UAB- The Blazers have changed jerseys this year. Much better, cleaner look.

Ohio- The Bobcats of Ohio have been playing around with new uniforms and such the past year or so. Today, we get a leak of their new matte green helmet. I like!

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I agree. I got into an argument with someone about Tennessee's official colors. I said they were (creamsicle) orange and white. This person swore that navy blue was one of their colors, citing the fact that it was included in several of their uniforms. It was included, alright -- but not because it was one of their official colors.

Actually, baby blue is a highlight color of theirs, and has been for as far back as I can remember. The girls use it a lot, but you can occasionally find it on the football unis in the trim.

Wow. Repeating the same argument. Yes, I know they use blue on their uniforms. The point is, it's not one of their official colors -- unless you're talking about a satellite campus. So the use of blue (of any hue) in their unis goes against their own branding. Agreeing with the grumpy old man comment -- if you don't like your official colors and want to use something else, then change your official colors.

OK, fair enough. I just meant to say that, being associated with the school for so long, it is an unofficial official color. Kind of the same way most of their fans think Rocky Top is their official fight song.

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I would like to thank everyone that read this post, and enjoyed it, and commented with their insight. Had a lot of fun putting this together, and am always interested in other people's opinions on such a matter. That's the beauty (to me) about the topic of uniforms; everyone has an opinion on these things. This isnt just a high-official decision and matter, this effects everyone, from the top, to the players, to the crews working the games to every single person that turns on that television station. Uniforms are such a huge part of the game, and its ultimately overlook in many cases.

Hope you guys enjoyed this, and hope I can be around this time next year to do it all over again for round 2!

PS- Nike ProCombat post will be posted and talked about in full when that news is available. Something to look forward to (kind of)!

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It is such a shame that UAB doesn't use the full dragon head logo on the side of their helmets. It was used in the past and looked great. It's one of the nicer logos in college football. The letters of UAB detract from an otherwise great logo.

P_FT_H_M_CL_RP_UAB.jpg%24(KGrHqEOKiEE5ZL73QyWBO(rncgeHQ~~_35.JPG

Notre Dame would have a great combo if they did away with the 60/40 helmet's gold portion. Imagine the whole helmet being dark blue with the logo like the 40 % side. Who says " ok, yeah that is a good idea"?

New-2012-Notre-Dame-Helmets-570x570.jpeg

Is Georgia tech trying to sneak one past the goalie? Kind of cool looking.

7834646546_1170b1f303_z.jpg

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Is Georgia tech trying to sneak one past the goalie? Kind of cool looking.

7834646546_1170b1f303_z.jpg

This picture is actually a photo taken by a fan of a helmet he made himself. He sent the picture to uniwatch.com last week.

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