New Illinois GRAY GHOST Uniform Honors Red Grange

When the Illinois football team takes the field October 25 for its homecoming game, it will do so in a new look inspired by one of its most famous alumni, the “Galloping Ghost,” Harold “Red” Grange. Nike Free 5.0 The game will takes place 90 years and a week after another Illinois homecoming that doubled as one of Grange’s greatest games. Unfamiliar with that particular clash? Allow the Illinois athletic department to explain:

Grange is widely known as the greatest college football player of all time. The uniforms honor the 90th anniversary of his historic Homecoming performance against Michigan in the Memorial Stadium dedication game on Oct. 18, 1924. Cheap Nike Lunarglide 5 In that game, Grange scored four touchdowns and racked up 262 total yards in the first 12 minutes, then ran for a fifth touchdown and threw for a sixth later in the game to help Illinois hand the Wolverines their first loss in two years, 39-14.

Grange was alternately referred to as the Galloping Ghost and the Gray Ghost, and the new Illinois Gray Ghost uniform of course takes inspiration from those monikers. Nike Football’s design team kept the elusive, Air Max Tailwind+ 5 New Zealand ethereal idea of a ghost in mind when creating the gray set, with subtle details that aren’t immediately apparent. A victory bad at the next is tonal, only visible up close, and the helmet employs chrome decals that seems to shift color; to shimmer.

The new uniform will get its on-field debut October 25 against Minnesota, and replica jerseys go on sale today. Check out plenty of detailed shots below, along with the poetic passage by legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice that coined the phrase “Gray Ghost.” Rice penned the words after watching Grange’s performance against Michigan.

A streak of fire, a breath of flame
Eluding all who reach and clutch;
A gray ghost thrown into the game
That rival hands may never touch;
A rubber bounding, blasting soul
Whose destination is the goal.
Red Grange of Illinois!
-Grantland Rice, 1924