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There isn’t a single college football team that’s managed to turn heads with creative jersey designs more frequently than the Oregon Ducks. There’s no telling what they have in store for the upcoming season, but they have a golden opportunity to make some history after deciding to use their game against Wisconsin to pay tribute to the Grateful Dead.
The football team at the University of Oregon has a history that stretches back to the end of the 19th century, and the Ducks originally called Hayward Field home until they relocated to Autzen Stadium, the venue they christened when they played their inaugural game in their new home in 1967.
That was also the year the Grateful Dead dropped their self-titled debut with the studio album that dropped a couple of years after the band began to make a name for itself by playing at the fabled Acid Tests that Ken Kesey organized in the San Francisco area, and they’d begin to cultivate their cultlike following over the course of the next decade.
The Dead had firmly transformed into an international sensation by the time they headed to Eugene to play at Autzen Stadium for the first time on June 25th, 1978 (a show where they were joined by Santana). That marked the first of the ten concerts they’d hold there prior to Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995—a run of performances where Bob Dylan and Little Feat ended up making the trek to Oregon as well.
They’re far from the only band that’s performed there at some point in time, but they are the only one with the kind of legacy that’s led to Oregon’s football team going out of their way to honor them.
Oregon will be hosting a “Tie-Dye Out” inspired by the Grateful Dead when it hosts Wisconsin on October 25, 2025
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Many college football teams attempt to foster an imposing environment by encouraging fans to wear a certain color to a game. Penn State’s “White Out” is the most notable example, but there are plenty of other schools that have gone a similar route.
That includes Oregon, which whipped up an official “color schedule” dictating the attire of choice for all of its home games in 2025 at the end of June.
However, there was one notable exception, as fans were advised to “stay tuned” in regard to the theme that was chosen for their showdown with Wisconsin on October 25th. It’s no longer a mystery, as the team revealed the plan in a video that was shared on Wednesday while unveiling the tie-dye theme inspired by the Grateful Dead.
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Wear Tie-Dye. @OregonFootball | #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/F3SXJvjJzg— GoDucks (@GoDucks) July 30, 2025
As things currently stand, there’s no official indication that Oregon is planning to debut a new uniform scheme for that game. However, anyone who’s familiar with the program is very familiar with the fact that Nike has frequently harnessed the Ducks as a canvas for creativity.
As far as I can tell, no college football team has ever worn a tie-dye jersey, and I’d be surprised if Oregon (and Nike) pass on the chance to become the first when given an excuse like this.
If you’re curious, there doesn’t seem to be any stipulations in the NCAA rulebook that would prohibit that kind of design. Teams are required to wear “jerseys of contrasting colors” and visitors are assigned white ones by default, but there isn’t any language that says a colored jersey needs to be one solid tone.
We’ll have to wait and see what the Ducks have up their sleeves, but I’ll be very shocked if tie-dye isn’t incorporated into the uniform in some way.