BYU linebacker Harrison Taggart spent his freshman season at the University of Oregon before transferring back home to play for the Cougars. The former four-star recruit played in three games during the 2022 season while utilizing a redshirt.
Although he saw just nine total snaps during his lone year with the Ducks, Taggart offered an interesting perspective on the amount of gear that Nike provides to athletes in Eugene. He actually found one element of the constant influx of swag to be rather frustrating come game day.
Taggart spoke about a variety of different topics while during a conversation on the Laced up Podcast in Provo. One of them was Nike’s close ties with Oregon.
For the most part, he says, BYU gets a similar amount of equipment from Sunday to Friday in terms of shirts, shorts, slides, etc. It, too, has a partnership with Nike.
The difference is on Saturdays.
Taggart says that the Ducks get a new uniform for every single game. That includes cleats.
Therein lies the issue!
Oregon football players are unable to break-in their kicks prior to kickoff because it’s brand new pair every week. As a result, they are always fighting against blisters because it’s like they are playing in “bricks.”
That part of the equation never gets discussed. The Ducks get a lot of praise for their uniforms. Nike always has them looking fresh whenever they take the field on Saturdays.
However, we didn’t consider that Oregon players’ feet have been hurting this whole time!
Maybe Taggart’s tidbit will get back to Eugene and inspire change. It seems very possible that the school could give its players their cleats in time to break them in— whether that be during practice the week prior to the game, or during fall camp so that they’re ready come game day.