Former Notre Dame receiver — now pitcher for the Chicago Cubs — Jeff Samardzija has yet to see Notre Dame's new uniforms for the Shamrock Series game at Soldier Field against Miami, but he already knows he doesn't like them.
That's because Samardzija, like so many of us, is a college football purist and the evolution of Notre Dame's uniforms is a betrayal to the uniform tradition of one of college football's storied programs.
"Well, it seems to be the thing these days for recruiting, huh?" Samardzija told ESPN Chicago. "See how much confetti and hoopla you can put out there to get guys to come to your school. You'd think playing on TV every Saturday would be enough."
Hmmm, imagine what he would have said if he'd actually seen them?
Samardzija was a receiver for the Irish from 2003-06 and had a school record 179 catches for 2,593 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Samardzija said when he played at Notre Dame, the big theme was all about keeping tradition and these uniforms, which include a helmet that is two-thirds gold glamour and a third fighting Irishman, are clearly a break from that.
"We never got any big screens or anything there," Samardzija said about the lack of a videoboard at Notre Dame Stadium. "They said it was all because of tradition. I don't see why they have to change now but hey, whatever."
Maybe a little backlash from alumni will push Notre Dame back to some of its more traditional uniforms.
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