Gators to Feature 150th Anniversary Patch in 2019
The Florida Gators will sport a new addition to their uniforms this season.
The 2019 football season marks the 150th anniversary of the birthday of college football. The College Football 150th Anniversary organization is a non-profit corporation formed to “plan and administer a national celebration of 150 seasons of collegiate football in 2019.” The Gators will take part in that celebration.
According to an announcement from CFB150, a season long uniform logo program has been implemented to mark the occasion. Throughout the 2019–2020 season, 100 percent of all Division 1 FBS schools will wear a jersey patch making it “the most widespread effort of its kind in the history of college athletics.”
Aubrey Champion, a Football Graduate Assistant at Arkansas State, confirmed the patch is “required by all schools” in a comment on Auburn Uniform Database’s Facebook post. Uni-Watch.com also reported on the program and noted on May 14 that Nebraska was the first team to unveil the patch on their uniforms.
Additionally, Florida’s first matchup for the 2019 season against Miami was moved up to August 24th specifically to celebrate 150 years of college football. In a joint effort by Florida, ESPN, Florida Citrus Sports, Miami, and CFB150 this “unique and rare opportunity [to] showcase college football” is sure to have both teams display the patch during a nationally-televised game.
The NCAA Football Rules Committee approved placement of the patch on “the right chest, above the conference logo” as seen in the following mockups:
Unlike most schools, Florida features their SEC conference patch on the collar of the uniform instead of the right chest. This means the 150 patch will be above the famous Gator head logo. Florida has already begun to recognize the occasion with tweets featuring the #CFB150 hashtag.
Florida has not been one to shy away from logos and patches.
In 2001, the team honored freshman fullback Eraste Autin who collapsed and died after voluntary summer workouts with an “A-Ross” patch.
For the Florida’s second national championship run in 2006, the team donned the program’s commemorative “100 years of Florida Gators Football” logo patch. A slightly different version of the logo was also featured on the field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
All teams in the SEC celebrated the conference’s 75th anniversary in 2007 with a patch. The logo was also on Florida Field.
This 150th celebration is the second time uniforms have been affected by an anniversary. In 1969, the 100th anniversary of college football was celebrated with multiple schools donning a 100 logo on their helmets. However, Florida was one of the teams that did not wear the 100th anniversary logo.
Patches are great, however, they can make for a crowded uniform, especially if a team makes a bowl game. Just look at this eye sore from 2007:
Overall, the 150th patch is by no means ugly, however, it adds to the already overwhelming amount of additions to college football uniforms. Manufacturer patches (Jordan), conference patches (SEC), logo patch (Gator head), and bowl patches leave minimal space for anything additional. Uniforms are quickly becoming walking billboards (i.e. the NBA) and patches threaten to devalue an aesthetically pleasing uniform. Also, with the current craze of consistent branding (i.e. Nike releasing updated brand identities for teams such as Pitt and Baylor) I’m quite surprised the patch isn’t able to be made in team colors. A gray and black patch on Florida’s home blues? Less than satisfying.
I welcome the efforts of CFB 150, but make no mistake, this will set a precedent for the future. College athletics is a money maker, (UF vs UM was moved up a week basically for the sole purpose of monetary opportunity) so if there’s any chance to honor an organization/anniversary, it very well could happen. I’m looking forward to tracking the development of patches over the next few years and that starts with the public reception on the night of Aug. 24 when Florida lines up against that team down south.
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